OF    THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

G\FI~QF 

REV.  JACOB  VOORSANGER,  D.D. 

1906 


of  Mbit  Bnofolrtrge 

XII 


THE    HITTITES 


THE  STORY  OF  A  FORGOTTEN  EMPIRE 


BY 


A.  H.  SAYCE,  LL.D. 

PROFESSOR     OF     ASSYRIOLOGY,     OXFORD 

AUTHOR    OF    '  FRESH    LIGHT    FROM    THE   ANCIENT   MONUMENTS  ' 
'  ASSYRIA,  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE,'  ETC.  ETC. 


SECOND    EDJTiON 


FLEMING    H.    REVELL    COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  CHICAGO 


112  FIFTH  AVENUE 


148  &  150  MADISON  STREET 


The  Religious   Tract  Society,  London 


PREFACE. 


THE  discovery  of  the  important  place  once  occupied 
by  the  Hittites  has  been  termed  '  the  romance  of  ancient 
history/  Nothing  can  be  more  interesting  than  the 
resurrection  of  a  forgotten  people,  more  especially  when 
that  people  is  so  intimately  connected  with  Old  Testa- 
ment story,  and  with  the  fortunes  of  the  Chosen  Race. 
How  the  resurrection  has  been  accomplished,  by  putting 
together  the  fragmentary  evidence  of  Egyptian  and 
Assyrian  inscriptions,  of  strange-looking  monuments  in 
Asia  Minor,  and  of  still  undeciphered  hieroglyphics, 
will  be  described  in  the  following  pages.  It  is  marvellous 
to  think  that  only  ten  years  ago  '  the  romance '  could 
not  have  been  written,  and  that  the  part  played  by  the 
Hittite  nations  in  the  history  of  the  world  was  still 
unsuspected.  Yet  now  we  have  become,  as  it  were, 
familiar  with  the  friends  of  Abraham  and  the  race  to 
which  Uriah  belonged. 

Already  a  large  and  increasing  literature  has  been 
devoted  to  them.  The  foundation  stone,  which  was 
laid  by  my  paper  '  On  the  Monuments  of  the  Hittites ' 
in  1880,  has  been  crowned  with  a  stately  edifice  in 
Dr.  Wright's  Empire  of  the  Hittites,  of  which  the 
second  edition  appeared  in  1886,  and  in  the  fourth 
volume  of  the  magnificent  work  of  Prof.  Perrot  and 


49.24  7;S 


6..  :  :•;  ;':;'•/;::    : 

M.  Chipiez,  VHistoire  de  I' Art  dans  VAntiquite,  pub- 
lished at  Paris  a  year  ago.  Profusely  illustrated,  the 
latter  work  sets  before  us  a  life-like  picture  of  Hittite 
architecture  and  art. 

It  cannot  be  long  before  the  inscriptions  left  to  us  by 
the  Hittites,  in  their  peculiar  form  of  hieroglyphic 
writing,  are  also  made  to  reveal  their  secrets.  All  that 
is  required  are  more  materials  upon  which  to  work,  and 
we  shall  then  know  which,  if  any,  of  the  attempts 
hitherto  made  to  explain  them  has  hit  the  truth. 
Major  Conder's  system  of  decipherment  has  not  yet 
obtained  the  adhesion  of  other  scholars  ;  neither  has 
the  rival  system  of  Mr.  Ball,  ingenious  and  learned  as 
it  is.  But  if  we  may  judge  from  the  successes  of  the 
last  few  years,  it  cannot  be  long  before  we  know  as 
much  about  the  Hittite  language  and  writing  as  we 
now  know  about  Hittite  art  and  civilisation.  To  quote 
the  words  of  Dr.  Wright :  '  We  must  labour  to  unloose 
the  dumb  tongue  of  these  inscriptions,  and  to  unlock 
their  mysteries,  not  with  the  view  of  finding  something 
sensational  in  them,  or  for  the  purpose  of  advancing 
some  theory,  but  for  the  love  of  knowing  what  they 
really  contain  ;  and  I  doubt  not  that,  proceeding  in  the 
right  method  of  investigation,  we  shall  reach  results 
satisfactory  to  the  Oriental  scholar,  and  confirmatory 
of  Divine  truth.' 

A.  H.  SAYCE. 

QUEEN'S  COLLEGE,  OXFORD. 
October  1888. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAP. 

I.      THE   HlTTITES   OF  THE  BlBLE 


II.  THE     HlTTITES     ON     THE     MONUMENTS    OF    EGYPT    AND 

ASSYRIA        .........  J9 

III.  THE  HITTITE  MONUMENTS        ......  54 

IV.  THE  HITTITE  EMPIRE        .......  73 

V.  THE  HITTITE  CITIES  AND  RACE       .....  97 

VI.  HITTITE  RELIGION  AND  ART    .»,...  104 

VII.  THE  INSCRIPTIONS       .        ,        .        *        *        •        .        .122 

VIII.  HITTITE  TRADE  AND  INDUSTRY        .....  136 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


SLABS  WITH  HITTITE  SCULPTURE  AT  KELLER  NEAR  AINTAB 

Frontispiece 

MAP    ILLUSTRATING   THE   EXTENT   OF   THE    HlTTITE    EMPIRE  .         IO 

A  SLAB  FOUND  AT  MERASH 54 

SLABS   WITH    HITTITE   SCULPTURES  FOUND  AT  KELLER   NEAR 

AINTAB 63 

THE  PSEUDO-SESOSTRIS  CARVED  ON  THE  ROCK  IN  THE  PASS  OF 

KARABEL 67 

MONUMENT  OF  A  HITTITE  KING  FOUND  AT  CARCHEMISH          .      72 
THE  DOUBLE-HEADED  EAGLE  OF  EYUK        .        .        .        .        .84 

SCULPTURES  AT  BOGHAZ  KEUI 88 

SCULPTURES  AT  BOGHAZ  KEUI 91 

AN  INSCRIPTION  FOUND  AT  CARCHEMISH  (now  destroyed}   .        .122 

THE  BILINGUAL  Boss  OF  TARKONDEMOS 127 

THE  LION  OF  MERASH 131 


B  L  AC 


MAP    ILLUSTRATING   THE    EXTENT    OF    THE   HITTITE    EMPIRE. 

(£ opied  by  permission  from  '  The  Empire  of  the  Hittites,} 


THE    HITTITES 

THE  STORY   OF  A  FORGOTTEN   EMPIRE. 


w 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE    HITTITES   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

E  are  told  in  the  Second  Book  of  Kings  (vii.  6)  that 
when  the  Syrians  were  encamped  about  Samaria 
and  the  Lord  had  sent  a  panic  upon  them,  '  they  said 
one  to  another,  Lo,  the  king  of  Israel  hath  hired  against 
us  the  kings  of  the  Hittites,  and  the  kings  of  the 
Egyptians,  to  come  upon  us/  Nearly  forty  years  ago 
a  distinguished  scholar  selected  this  passage  for  his 
criticism.  Its  * unhistorical  tone/  he  declared,  'is  too 
manifest  to  allow  of  our  easy  belief  in  it/  '  No  Hittite 
kings  can  have  compared  in  power  with  the  king  of 
Judah,  the  real  and  near  ally,  who  is  not  named  at 
all  ...  nor  is  there  a  single  mark  of  acquaintance  with 
the  contemporaneous  history/ 

Recent  discoveries  have  retorted  the  critic's  objections 
upon  himself.  It  is  not  the  Biblical  writer  but  the 
modern  author  who  is  now  proved  to  have  been  un- 
acquainted with  the  contemporaneous  history  of  the 
time.  The  Hittites  were  a  very  real  power.  Not  very 
many  centuries  before  the  age  of  Elisha  they  had 
contested  the  empire  of  Western  Asia  with  the  Egyptians, 
and  though  their  power  had  waned  in  the  days  of 


12  THE  HITTITES. 

Jehoram  they  were  still  formidable  enemies  and  useful 
allies.  They  were  still  worthy  of  comparison  with  the 
divided  kingdom  of  Egypt,  and  infinitely  more  powerful 
than  that  of  Judah. 

But  we  hear  no  more  about  them  in  the  subsequent 
records  of  the  Old  Testament.  The  age  of  Hittite 
supremacy  belongs  to  an  earlier  date  than  the  rise  of 
the  monarchy  in  Israel ;  earlier,  we  may  even  say,  than 
the  Israelitish  conquest  of  Canaan.  The  references  to 
them  in  the  later  historical  books  of  the  Old  Testament 
Canon  are  rare  and  scanty.  The  traitor  who  handed 
over  Beth-el  to  the  house  of  Joseph  fled  '  into  the  land 
of  the  Hittites'  (Judg.  i.  26),  and  there  built  a  city  which 
he  called  Luz.  Mr.  Tomkins  thinks  he  has  found  it 
in  the  town  of  Latsa,  captured  by  the  Egyptian  king 
Ramses  II.,  which  he  identifies  with  Qalb  Luzeh,  in 
Northern  Syria.  However  this  may  be,  an  emended 
reading  of  the  text,  based  upon  the  Septuagint,  trans- 
forms the  unintelligible  Tahtim-hodshi  of  2  Sam.  xxiv. 
6  into  'the  Hittites  of  Kadesh,'  a  city  which  long 
continued  to  be  their  chief  stronghold  in  the  valley 
of  the  Orontes.  It  was  as  far  as  this  city,  which  lay 
at '  the  entering  in  of  Hamath,'  on  the  northern  frontier 
of  the  Israelitish  kingdom,  that  the  officers  of  David 
made  their  way  when  they  were  sent  to  number  Israel. 
Lastly,  in  the  reign  of  Solomon  the  Hittites  are  again 
mentioned  (i  Kings  x.  28,  29)  in  a  passage  where  the 
authorised  translation  has  obscured  the  sense.  It  runs 
in  the  Revised  Version  :  '  And  the  horses  which  Solomon 
had  were  brought  out  of  Egypt ;  and  the  king's  mer- 
chants received  them  in  droves,  each  drove  at  a  price. 
And  a  chariot  came  up  and  went  out  of  Egypt  for 
six  hundred  shekels  of  silver,  and  an  horse  for  an 


THE  HITTITES  OF  THE  BIBLE.  13 

hundred  and  fifty :  and  so  for  all  the  kings  of  the 
Hittites,  and  for  the  kings  of  Syria,  did  they  bring 
them  out  by  their  means/  The  Hebrew  merchants, 
in  fact,  were  the  mediatories  between  Egypt  and  the 
north,  and  exported  the  horses  of  Egypt  not  only  for 
the  king  of  Israel  but  for  the  kings  of  the  Hittites 
as  well. 

The  Hittites  whose  cities  and  princes  are  thus  referred 
to  in  the  later  historical  books  of  the  Old  Testament 
belonged  to  the  north,  Hamath  and  Kadesh  on  the 
Orontes  being  their  most  southernly  points.  But  the 
Book  of  Genesis  introduces  us  to  other  Hittites — 'the 
children  of  Heth,'  as  they  are  termed — whose  seats 
were  in  the  extreme  south  of  Palestine.  It  was  from 
'Ephron  the  Hittite'  that  Abraham  bought  the  cave 
of  Machpelah  at  Hebron  (Gen.  xxiii.),  and  Esau  '  took 
to  wife  Judith  the  daughter  of  Beeri  the  Hittite,  and 
Bashemath  the  daughter  of  Elon  the  Hittite'  (Gen. 
xxvi.  34),  or,  as  it  is  given  elsewhere,  c  Adah  the  daughter 
of  Elon  the  Hittite'  (Gen.  xxxvi.  2).  It  must  be  to 
these  Hittites  of  the  south  that  the  ethnographical 
table  in  the  tenth  chapter  of  Genesis  refers  when  it  is 
said  that  '  Canaan  begat  Sidon  his  first-born,  and  Heth' 
(ver.  15),  and  in  no  other  way  can  we  explain  the  state- 
ment of  Ezekiel  (xvi.  3,  45)  that  '  the  father'  of  Jerusalem 
*  was  an  Amorite  and '  its  '  mother  a  Hittite.'  '  Uriah 
the  Hittite,'  too,  the  trusty  officer  of  David,  must  have 
come  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Hebron,  where  David 
had  reigned  for  seven  years,  rather  than  from  among 
the  distant  Hittites  of  the  north.  Besides  the  latter 
there  was  thus  a  Hittite  population  which  clustered 
round  Hebron,  and  to  whom  the  origin  of  Jerusalem 
was  partly  due. 


14  THE  HITTITES. 

Now  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  prophet  ascribes  the 
foundation  of  Jerusalem  to  the  Amorite  as  well  as  the 
Hittite.  The  Jebusites,  accordingly,  from  whose  hands 
the  city  was  wrested  by  David,  must  have  belonged 
to  one  or  other  of  these  two  great  races ;  perhaps, 
indeed,  to  both.  At  all  events,  we  find  elsewhere  that 
the  Hittites  and  Amorites  are  closely  interlocked  to- 
gether. It  was  so  at  Hebron,  where  in  the  time  of 
Abraham  not  only  Ephron  the  Hittite  dwelt,  but  also 
the  three  sons  of  the  Amorite  Mamre  (Gen.  xiv.  13). 
The  Egyptian  monuments  show  that  the  two  nations 
were  similarly  confederated  together  at  Kadesh  on  the 
Orontes.  Kadesh  was  a  Hittite  stronghold ;  nevertheless 
it  is  described  as  being  *  in  the  land  of  the  Amaur '  or 
Amorites,  and  its  king  is  depicted  with  the  physical 
characteristics  of  the  Amorite,  and  not  of  the  Hittite. 
Further  north,  in  the  country  which  the  Hittites  had 
made  peculiarly  their  own,  cities  existed  which  bore 
names,  it  would  seem,  compounded  with  that  of  the 
Amorite,  and  the  common  Assyrian  title  of  the  district 
in  which  Damascus  stood,  Gar-emeris,  is  best  explained 
as  'the  Gar  of  the  Amorites.'  Shechem  was  taken 
by  Jacob  '  out  of  the  hand  of  the  Amorite'  (Gen.  xlviii. 
22),  and  the  Amorite  kingdom  of  Og  and  Sihon  included 
large  tracts  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Jordan.  South 
of  Palestine  the  block  of  mountains  in  which  the 
sanctuary  of  Kadesh-barnea  stood  was  an  Amorite 
possession  (Gen.  xiv.  7,  Deut.  i.  19,  20);  and  we  learn 
from  Numb.  xiii.  29,  that  while  the  Amalekites  dwelt 
'in  the  land  of  the  south'  and  the  Canaanites  by  the 
sea  and  in  the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  the  Hittites  and 
Jebusites  and  Amorites  lived  together  in  the  mountains 
of  the  interior.  Among  the  five  kings  of  the  Amorites 


THE  HITTITES  OF  THE  BIBLE.  15 

against  whom  Joshua  fought  (Josh.  x.  5)  were  the  king 
of  Jerusalem  and  the  king  of  Hebron. 

The  Hittites  and  Amorites  were  therefore  mingled 
together  in  the  mountains  of  Palestine  like  the  two 
races  which  ethnologists  tell  us  go  to  form  the  modern 
Kelt.  But  the  Egyptian  monuments  teach  us  that  they 
were  of  very  different, origin  and  character.  The  Hittites 
were  a  people  with  yellow  skins  and  '  Mongoloid' 
features,  whose  receding  foreheads,  oblique  eyes,  and 
protruding  upper  jaws,  are  represented  as  faithfully 
on  their  own  monuments  as  they  are  on  those  of  Egypt, 
so  that  we  cannot  accuse  the  Egyptian  artists  of  cari- 
caturing their  enemies.  If  the  Egyptians  have  made 
the  Hittites  ugly,  it  was  because  they  were  so  in  reality. 
The  Amorites,  on  the  contrary,  were  a  tall  and  handsome 
people.  They  are  depicted  with  white  skins,  blue  eyes, 
and  reddish  hair,  all  the  characteristics,  in  fact,  of  the 
white  race.  Mr.  Petrie  poiiits  out  their  resemblance 
to  the  Dardanians  of  Asia  Minor,  who  form  an  inter- 
mediate link  between  the  white-skinned  tribes  of  the 
Greek  seas  and  the  fair-complexioned  Libyans  of 
Northern  Africa.  The  latter  are  still  found  in  large 
numbers  in  the  mountainous  regions  which  stretch 
eastward  from  Morocco,  and  are  usually  known  among 
the  French  under  the  name  of  Kabyles.  The  traveller 
who  first  meets  with  them  in  Algeria  cannot  fail  to 
be  struck  by  their  likeness  to  a  certain  part  of  the 
population  in  the  British  Isles.  Their  clear-white 
freckled  skins,  their  blue  eyes,  their  golden-red  hair 
and  tall  stature,  remind  him  of  the  fair  Kelts  of  an 
Irish  village  ;  and  when  we  find  that  their  skulls,  which 
are  of  the  so-called  dolichocephalic  or  '  long-headed' 
type,  are  the  same  as  the  skulls  discovered  in  the 


1 6  THE  HITTITES. 

prehistoric  cromlechs  of  the  country  they  still  inhabit, 
we  may  conclude  that  they  represent  the  modern 
descendants  of  the  white-skinned  Libyans  of  the 
Egyptian  monuments. 

In  Palestine  also  we  still  come  across  representatives 
of  a  fair-complexioned  blue-eyed  race,  in  whom  we  may 
see  the  descendants  of  the  ancient  Amorites,  just  as  we 
see  in  the  Kabyles  the  descendants  of  the  ancient 
Libyans.  We  know  that  the  Amorite  type  continued 
to  exist  in  Judah  long  after  the  Israelitish  conquest 
of  Canaan.  The  captives  taken  from  the  southern 
cities  of  Judah  by  Shishak  in  the  time  of  Rehoboam, 
and  depicted  by  him  upon  the  walls  of  the  great  temple 
of  Karnak,  are  people  of  Amorite  origin.  Their  '  regular 
profile  of  sub-aquiline  cast/  as  Mr.  Tomkins  describes  it, 
their  high  cheek-bones  and  martial  expression,  are  the 
features  of  the  Amorites,  and  not  of  the  Jews. 

Tallness  of  stature  has  always  been  a  distinguishing 
characteristic  of  the  white  race.  Hence  it  was  that  the 
Anakim,  the  Amorite  inhabitants  of  Hebron,  seemed 
to  the  Hebrew  spies  to  be  as  giants,  while  they  them- 
selves were  but  '  as  grasshoppers '  by  the  side  of  them 
(Numb.  xiii.  33).  After  the  Israelitish  invasion  remnants 
of  the  Anakim  were  left  in  Gaza  and  Gath  and  Ash- 
kelon  (Josh.  xi.  22),  and  in  the  time  of  David  Goliath 
of  Gath  and  his  gigantic  family  were  objects  of  dread 
to  their  neighbours  (2  Sam.  xxi.  15-22). 

It  is  clear,  then,  that  the  Amorites  of  Canaan  belonged 
to  the  same  white  race  as  the  Libyans  of  Northern 
Africa,  and  like  them  preferred  the  mountains  to  the 
hot  plains  and  valleys  below.  The  Libyans  themselves 
belonged  to  a  race  which  can  be  traced  through  the 
peninsula  of  Spain  and  the  western  side  of  France  into 


THE  HITTITES  OF  THE  BIBLE.         17 

the  British  Isles.  Now  it  is  curious  that  wherever  this 
particular  branch  of  the  white  race  has  extended  it  has 
been  accompanied  by  a  particular  form  of  cromlech, 
or  sepulchral  chamber  built  of  large  uncut  stones.  The 
stones  are  placed  upright  in  the  ground  and  covered 
over  with  other  large  slabs,  the  whole  chamber  being 
subsequently  concealed'  under  a  tumulus  of  small  stones 
or  earth.  Not  unfrequently  the  entrance  to  the  crom- 
lech is  approached  by  a  sort  of  corridor.  These  crom- 
lechs are  found  in  Britain,  in  France,  in  Spain,  in 
Northern  Africa,  and  in  Palestine,  more  especially  on 
the  eastern  side  of  the  Jordan,  and  the  skulls  that  have 
been  exhumed  from  them  are  the  skulls  of  men  of  the 
dolichocephalic  or  long-headed  type. 

It  has  been  necessary  to  enter  at  this  length  into  what 
has  been  discovered  concerning  the  Amorites  by  recent 
research,  in  order  to  show  how  carefully  they  should 
be  distinguished  from  the  Hittites  with  whom  they 
afterwards  intermingled.  They  must  have  been  in  pos- 
session of  Palestine  long  before  the  Hittites  arrived 
there.  They  extended  over  a  much  wider  area,  since 
there  are  no  traces  of  the  Hittites  at  Shechem  or  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  Jordan,  where  the  Amorites  estab- 
lished two  powerful  kingdoms  ;  while  the  earliest  mention 
of  the  Amorites  in  the  Bible  (Gen.  xiv.  7)  describes 
them  as  dwelling  at  Hazezon-tamar,  or  En-gedi,  on  the 
shores  of  the  Dead  Sea,  where  no  Hittites  are  ever 
known  to  have  settled.  The  Hittite  colony  in  Palestine, 
moreover,  was  confined  to  a  small  district  in  the  moun- 
tains of  Judah  :  their  strength  lay  far  away  in  the  north, 
where  the  Amorites  were  comparatively  weak.  It  is 
true  that  Kadesh  on  the  Orontes  was  in  the  hands  of 
the  Hittites  ;  but  it  is  also  true  that  it  was  '  in  the  land 

B 


I  8  THE  HITTITES. 

of  the  Amorites,'  and  this  implies  that  they  were  its 
original  occupants.  We  must  regard  the  Amorites  as 
the  earlier  population,  among  a  part  of  whom  the  Hittites 
in  later  days  settled  and  intermarried.  At  what  epoch 
that  event  took  place  we  are  still  unable  to  say. 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE   HITTITES   ON   THE   MONUMENTS   OF   EGYPT 
AND   ASSYRIA. 

IN  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  seen  what  the 
Bible  has  to  tell  us  about  '  the  children  of  Heth.' 
They  were  an  important  people  in  the  north  of  Syria  who 
were  ruled  by  'kings'  in  the  days  of  Solomon,  and 
whose  power  was  formidable  to  their  Syrian  neighbours. 
But  there  was  also  a  branch  of  them  established  in  the 
extreme  south  of  Palestine,  where  they  inhabited  the 
mountains  along  with  the  Amorites,  and  had  taken  a 
share  in  the  foundation  of  Jerusalem.  It  was  from  one 
of  the  latter,  Ephron  the  son  of  Zohar,  that  Abraham 
had  purchased  the  cave  of  Machpelah  at  Hebron  ;  and 
one  of  the  wives  of  Esau  was  of  Hittite  descent.  In 
later  times  Uriah  the  Hittite  was  one  of  the  chief 
officers  of  David,  and  his  wife  Bath-sheba  was  not  only 
the  mother  of  Solomon,  but  also  the  distant  ancestress 
of  Christ.  For  us,  therefore,  these  Hittites  of  Judaea 
have  a  very  special  and  peculiar  interest. 

The  decipherment  of  the  inscriptions  of  Egypt  and 
Assyria  has  thrown  a  new  light  upon  their  origin  and 
history,  and  shown  that  the  race  to  which  they  belonged 
once  played  a  leading  part  in  the  history  of  the  civilised 
East.  On  the  Egyptian  monuments  they  are  called 
Kheta  (or  better  Khata),  on  those  of  Assyria  Khatta 
or  Khate,  both  words  being  exact  equivalents  of  the 
Hebrew  Kheth  and  Khitti. 

The  Kheta  or  Hittites  first  appear  upon  the  scene 
B  2 


20  THE   HITTITES. 

in  the  time  of  the  Eighteenth  Egyptian  Dynasty.  The 
foreign  rule  of  the  Hyksos  or  Shepherd  princes  had 
been  overthrown,  Egypt  had  recovered  its  independence, 
and  its  kings  determined  to  retaliate  upon  Asia  the  suf- 
ferings brought  upon  their  own  country  by  the  Asiatic 
invader.  The  war,  which  commenced  with  driving  the 
Asiatic  out  of  the  Delta,  ended  by  attacking  him  in  his 
own  lands  of  Palestine  and  Syria.  Thothmes  I.  (about 
B.C.  1600)  marched  to  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  and 
set  up  *  the  boundary  of  the  empire '  in  the  country  of 
Naharina.  Naharina  was  the  Biblical  Aram  Naharaim 
or  '  Syria  of  the  twro  rivers/  better  known,  perhaps,  as 
Mesopotamia,  and  its  situation  has  been  ascertained  by 
recent  discoveries.  It  was  the  district  called  Mitanni 
by  the  Assyrians,  who  describe  it  as  being  '  in  front  of 
the  land  of  the  Hittites/  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the 
Euphrates,  between  Carchemish  and  the  mouth  of  the 
river  Balikh.  In  the  age  of  Thothmes  I.,  it  was  the 
leading  state  in  Western  Asia.  The  Hittites  had  not 
as  yet  made  themselves  formidable,  and  the  most 
dangerous  enemy  the  Egyptian  monarch  was  called 
upon  to  face  were  the  people  over  whom  Chushan-risha- 
thaim  was  king  in  later  days  (Judg.  iii.  8).  It  is  not 
until  the  reign  of  his  son,  Thothmes  III.,  that  the 
Hittites  come  to  the  front.  They  are  distinguished  as 
*  Great '  and  '  Little/  the  latter  name  perhaps  denoting 
the  Hittites  of  the  south  of  Judah.  However  this  may 
be,  Thothmes  received  tribute  from  'the  king  of  the 
great  land  of  the  Kheta/  which  consisted  of  gold,  negro- 
slaves,  men-servants  and  maid-servants,  oxen  and  ser- 
vants. Whether  the  Hittites  were  as  yet  in  possession 
of  Kadesh  we  do  not  know.  If  they  were,  they  would 
have  taken  part  in  the  struggle  against  the  Egyptians 


MONUMENTS  OF  EGYPT  AND   ASSYRIA.  21 

which  took  place  around  the  walls  of  Megiddo,  and  was 
decided  in  favour  of  Thothmes  only  after  a  long  series 
of  campaigns. 

Before  Thothmes  died,  he  had  made  Egypt  mistress 
of  Palestine  and  Syria  as  far  as  the  banks  of  the 
Euphrates  and  the  land  of  Naharina.  One  of  the  bravest 
of  his  captains  tells  us  on  the  walls  of  his  tomb  how 
he  had  captured  prisoners  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Aleppo,  and  had  waded  through  the  waters  of  the 
Euphrates  when  his  master  assaulted  the  mighty  Hittite 
fortress  of  Carchemish.  Kadesh  on  the  Orontes  had 
already  fallen,  and  for  a  time  all  Western  Asia  did 
homage  to  the  Egyptian  monarch,  even  the  king  of 
Assyria  sending  him  presents  and  courting,  as  it  would 
seem,  his  alliance.  The  Egyptian  empire  touched  the 
land  of  Naharina  on  the  east  and  the  *  great  land  of  the 
Hittites'  on  the  north. 

But  neighbours  so  powerful  could  not  remain  long  at 
peace.  A  fragmentary  inscription  records  that  the  first 
campaign  of  Thothmes  IV.,  the  grandson  of  Thothmes 
III.,  was  directed  against  the  Hittites,  and  Amenophis 
III.,  the  son  and  successor  of  Thothmes  IV.,  found  it 
necessary  to  support  himself  by  entering  into  matri- 
monial alliance  with  the  king  of  Naharina.  The  marriage 
had  strange  consequences  for  Egypt.  The  new  queen 
brought  with  her  not  only  a  foreign  name  and  foreign 
customs,  but  a  foreign  faith  as  well.  She  refused  to 
worship  Amun  of  Thebes  and  the  other  gods  of  Egypt, 
and  clung  to  the  religion  of  her  fathers,  whose  supreme 
object  of  adoration  was  the  solar  disk.  The  Hittite 
monuments  themselves  bear  witness  to  the  prevalence 
of  this  worship  in  Northern  Syria.  The  winged  solar 
disk  appears  above  the  figure  of  a  king  which  has  been 


22  THE  HITTITES. 

brought  from  Birejik  on  the  Euphrates  to  the  British 
Museum ;  and  even  at  Boghaz  Keui,  far  away  in  Northern 
Asia  Minor,  the  winged  solar  disk  has  been  carved  by 
Hittite  sculptors  upon  the  rock. 

Amenophis  IV.,  the  son  of  Amenophis  III.,  was  edu- 
cated in  the  faith  of  his  mother,  and  after  his  accession 
to  the  throne  endeavoured  to  impose  the  new  creed 
upon  his  unwilling  subjects.  The  powerful  priesthood 
of  Thebes  withstood  him  for  a  while,  but  at  last  he 
assumed  the  name  of  Khu-n-Aten.  'the  refulgence  of 
the  solar  disk/  and  quitting  Thebes  and  its  ancient 
temples  he  built  himself  a  new  capital  dedicated  to  the 
new  divinity.  It  stood  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Nile, 
to  the  north  of  Assiout,  and  its  long  line  of  ruins  is  now 
known  to  the  natives  under  the  name  of  Tel  el-Amarna. 
The  city  was  filled  with  the  adherents  of  the  new  creed, 
and  their  tombs  are  yet  to  be  found  in  the  cliffs  that 
enclose  the  desert  on  the  east.  Its  existence,  however, 
was  of  no  long  duration.  After  the  death  of  Khu-n- 
Aten,  'the  heretic  king,'  his  throne  was  occupied  by  one 
or  two  princes  who  had  embraced  his  faith;  but  their 
reigns  were  brief,  and  they  were  succeeded  by  a  monarch 
who  returned  once  more  to  the  religion  of  his  fore- 
fathers. The  capital  of  Khu-n-Aten  was  deserted,  and 
the  objects  found  upon  its  site  show  that  it  was  never 
again  inhabited. 

Among  its  ruins  a  discovery  has  recently  been  made 
which  casts  an  unexpected  light  upon  the  history  of  the 
Oriental  world  in  the  century  before  the  Exodus.  A 
large  collection  of  clay  tablets  has  been  found,  similar 
to  those  disinterred  from  the  mounds  of  Nineveh  and 
Babylonia,  and  like  the  latter  inscribed  in  cuneiform 
characters  and  in  the  Assyro-Babylonian  language. 


MONUMENTS ^OF  EGYPT  AND  ASSYRIA.  23 


They  consist  for  the  most  part  of  letters  and  despatches 
sent  to  Khu-n-Aten  and  his  father,  Amenophis  III.,  by 
the  governors  and  rulers  of  Palestine,  Syria,  Mesopo- 
tamia and  Babylonia,  and  they  prove  that  at  that  time 
Babylonian  was  the  international  language,  and  the 
complicated  cuneiform  system  of  writing  the  common 
means  of  intercourse,  of  the  educated  world.  Many  of 
them  were  transferred  by  Khu-n-Aten  from  the  royal 
archives  of  Thebes  to  his  new  city  at  Tel  el-Amarna  ; 
the  rest  were  received  and  stored  up  after  the  new  city 
had  been  built.  We  learn  from  them  that  the  Hittites 
were  already  pressing  southward,  and  were  causing 
serious  alarm  to  the  governors  and  allies  of  the  Egyptian 
king.  One  of  the  tablets  is  a  despatch  from  Northern 
Syria,  praying  the  Egyptian  monarch  to  send  assistance 
against  them  as  soon  as  possible. 

The  '  heresy '  of  Khu-n-Aten  brought  trouble  and  dis- 
union into  Egypt,  and  his  immediate  successors  seem 
to  have  been  forced  to  retire  from  Syria.  So  far  from 
being  able  to  aid  their  allies,  the  Egyptian  generals 
found  themselves  no  match  for  the  Hittite  armies. 
Ramses  I.,  the  founder  of  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty,  was 
compelled  to  conclude  a  treaty,  defensive  and  offensive, 
with  the  Hittite  king  Saplel,  and  thus  to  recognise  that 
Hittite  power  was  on  an  equality  with  that  of  Egypt. 

From  this  time  forward  it  becomes  possible  to  speak 
of  a  Hittite  empire.  Kadesh  was  once  more  in  Hittite 
hands,  and  the  influence  formerly  enjoyed  by  Egypt 
in  Palestine  and  Syria  was  now  enjoyed  by  its  rival. 
The  rude  mountaineers  of  the  Taurus  had  descended 
into  the  fertile  plains  of  the  south,  interrupting  the  in- 
tercourse between  Babylonia  and  Canaan,  and  super- 
seding the  cuneiform  characters  of  Chaldsea  by  their 


24  THE   HITTITES. 

own  hieroglyphic  writing.  From  henceforth  the  Baby- 
lonian language  ceased  to  be  the  language  of  diplomacy 
and  education. 

With  Seti  I.,  the  son  and  successor  of  Ramses,  the 
power  of  Egypt  again  revived.  He  drove  the  Beduin 
and  other  marauders  across  the  frontiers  of  the  desert 
and  pushed  the  war  into  Syria  itself.  The  cities  of  the 
Philistines  again  received  Egyptian  garrisons ;  Seti 
marched  his  armies  as  far  as  the  Orontes,  fell  suddenly 
upon  Kadesh  and  took  it  by  storm.  The  war  was  now 
begun  between  Egypt  and  the  Hittites,  which  lasted  for 
the  next  half-century.  It  left  Egypt  utterly  exhausted, 
and,  in  spite  of  the  vainglorious  boasts  of  its  scribes 
and  poets,  glad  to  make  a  peace  which  virtually  handed 
over  to  her  rivals  the  possession  of  Asia  Minor. 

But  at  first  success  waited  on  the  arms  of  Seti.  He 
led  his  armies  once  more  to  the  Euphrates  and  the  bor- 
ders of  Naharina,  and  compelled  Mautal,  the  Hittite 
monarch,  to  sue  for  peace.  The  natives  of  the  Lebanon 
received  him  with  acclamations,  and  cut  down  their 
cedars  for  his  ships  on  the  Nile. 

When  Seti  died,  however,  the  Hittites  were  again  in 
possession  of  Kadesh,  and  war  had  broken  out  between 
them  and  his  son  Ramses  II.  The  long  reign  of  Ram- 
ses II.  was  a  ceaseless  struggle  against  his  formidable 
foes.  The  war  was  waged  with  varying  success.  Some- 
times victory  inclined  to  the  Egyptians,  sometimes  to 
their  Hittite  enemies.  Its  chief  result  was  to  bring 
ruin  and  disaster  upon  the  cities  of  the  Canaanites. 
Their  land  \vas  devastated  by  the  hostile  armies  which 
traversed  it  ;  their  towns  were  sacked,  now  by  the 
Hittite  invaders  from  the  north,  now  by  the  soldiers 
of  Ramses  from  the  south.  It  was  little  wonder  that 


MONUMENTS  OF  EGYPT  AND  ASSYRIA.  2$ 

their  inhabitants  fled  to  island  fastnesses  like  Tyre,  de- 
serting the  city  on  the  mainland,  which  an  Egyptian 
traveller  of  the  age  of  Ramses  tells  us  had  been  burnt 
not  long  before.  We  can  understand  now  why  they 
offered  so  slight  a  resistance  to  the  invading  Israelites. 
The  Exodus  took  place  shortly  after  the  death  of 
Ramses  II.,  the  Pharaoh  of  the  oppression  ;  and  when 
Joshua  entered  Palestine  he  found  there  a  disunited 
people  and  a  country  exhausted  by  the  long  and 
terrible  wars  of  the  preceding  century.  The  way  had 
been  prepared  by  the  Hittites  for  the  Israelitish  con- 
quest of  Canaan. 

Pentaur,  a  sort  of  Egyptian  poet  laureate,  has  left 
us  an  epic  which  records  the  heroic  deeds  of  Ramses 
in  his  first  campaign  against  the  Hittites.  The  actual 
event  which  gave  occasion  to  it  was  an  act  of  bravery 
performed  by  the  Egyptian  monarch  before  the  walls 
of  Kadesh  ;  but  the  poet  has  transformed  him  into  a 
hero  capable  of  superhuman  deeds,  and  has  thus  pro- 
duced an  epic  poem  which  reminds  us  of  the  Greek 
Iliad.  Its  details,  however,  afford  a  welcome  insight 
into  the  history  of  the  time,  and  show  to  what  a  height 
of  power  the  Hittite  empire  had  advanced.  Its  king 
could  summon  to  his  aid  vassal-allies  not  only  from 
Syria,  but  from  the  distant  regions  of  Asia  Minor  as 
well.  The  merchants  of  Carchemish,  the  islanders  of 
Arvad,  acknowledged  his  supremacy  along  with  the 
Dardanians  of  the  Troad  and  the  Mseonians  of  Lydia. 
The  Hittite  empire  was  already  a  reality,  extending 
from  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  to  the  shores  of  the 
^Egean,  and  including  both  the  cultured  Semites  of 
Syria  and  the  rude  barbarians  of  the  Greek  seas. 

It  was  in  the  fifth  year  of  the  reign  of  Ramses  (B.  C. 


26  THE   HITTITES. 

1383)  that  the  event  occurred  which  was  celebrated 
by  the  Egyptian  Homer.  The  Egyptian  armies  had 
advanced  to  the  Orontes  and  the  neighbourhood  of 
Kadesh.  There  two  Beduin  spies  were  captured,  who 
averred  that  the  Hittite  king  was  far  away  in  the  north 
with  his  forces,  encamped  at  Aleppo.  But  the  in- 
telligence was  false.  The  Hittites  and  their  allies,  multi- 
tudinous as  the  sand  on  the  sea-shore,  were  really  lying 
in  ambush  hard  by.  In  their  train  were  the  soldiers 
of  Naharina,  of  the  Dardanians  and  of  Mysia,  along 
with  numberless  other  peoples  who  now  owned  the 
Hittite  sway.  The  Hittite  monarch  'had  left  no  people 
on  his  road  without  bringing  them  with  him.  Their 
number  was  endless  ;  nothing  like  it  had  ever  been 
before.  They  covered  mountains  and  valleys  like 
grasshoppers  for  their  number.  He  had  not  left  silver 
or  gold  with  his  people  ;  he  had  taken  away  all  their 
goods  and  possessions  to  give  it  to  the  people  who 
accompanied  him  to  the  war/ 

The  whole  host  was  concealed  in  ambush  on  the 
north-west  side  of  Kadesh.  Suddenly  they  arose  and 
fell  upon  the  terrified  Egyptians  by  the  waters  of  the 
Lake  of  the  Amorites,  the  modern  Lake  of  Horns. 
The  chariots  and  horses  charged  'the  legion  of  Ra- 
Hormakhis,'  and  '  foot  and  horse  gave  way  before  them/ 
The  news  was  carried  to  the  Pharaoh.  '  He  arose  like 
his  father  Month,  he  grasped  his  weapons,  and  put  on 
his  armour  like  Baal/  His  steed  'Victory  in  Thebes1 
bore  him  in  his  chariot  into  the  midst  of  the  foe.  Then 
he  looked  behind  him,  and  behold  he  was  alone.  The 
bravest  heroes  of  the  Hittite  host  beset  his  retreat, 
and  2500  hostile  chariots  were  around  him.  He  was 
abandoned  in  the  midst  of  the  enemy  :  not  a  prince, 


MONUMENTS  OF  EGYPT  AND  ASSYRIA.  27 

not  a  captain  was  with  him.  Then  in  his  extreme 
need  the  Pharaoh  called  upon  his  god  Amun.  '  Where 
art  thou,  my  father  Amun  ?  If  this  means  that  the 
father  has  forgotten  his  son,  have  I  done  anything 
without  thy  knowledge,  or  have  I  not  gone  and  followed 
the  precepts  of  thy  mouth  ?  Never  were  the  precepts 
of  thy  mouth  transgressed,  nor  have  I  broken  thy  com- 
mandments in  any  respect.  Sovran  lord  of  Egypt,  who 
makest  the  peoples  that  withstand  thee  to  bow  down, 
what  are  these  people  of  Asia  to  thy  heart?  Amun 
brings  them  low  who  know  not  God.  .  .  .  Behold  now, 
Amun,  I  am  in  the  midst  of  many  unknown  peoples 
in  great  number.  All  have  united  themselves,  and  I  am 
all  alone  :  no  other  is  with  me  ;  my  warriors  and  my 
charioteers  have  deserted  me.  I  called  to  them,  and 
not  one  of  them  heard  my  voice/ 

The  petition  of  Ramses  was  heard.  Amun  <  reached 
out  his  hand,'  and  declared  that  he  was  come  to  help 
the  Pharaoh  against  his  foes.  Then  Ramses  was 
inspired  with  supernatural  strength.  '  I  hurled/  he  is 
made  to  say, '  the  dart  with  my  right  hand,  I  fought  with 
my  left  hand.  I  was  like  Baal  in  his  hour  before  their 
sight.  I  had  found  2500  chariots  ;  I  was  in  the  midst 
of  them  ;  but  they  were  dashed  in  pieces  before  my 
horses.'  The  ground  was  covered  with  the  slain,  and  the 
Hittite  king  fled  in  terror.  His  princes  again  gathered 
round  the  Pharaoh,  and  again  Ramses  scattered  them 
in  a  moment.  Six  times  did  he  charge  the  Hittite  host, 
and  six  times  they  broke  and  were  slaughtered.  The 
strength  of  Baal  was  '  in  all  the  limbs '  of  the  Egyptian 
king. 

Now  at  last  his  servants  came  to  his  aid.  But  the 
victory  had  already  been  won,  and  all  that  remained 


1 8  THE  HITTITES. 

was  for  the  Pharaoh  to  upbraid  his  army  for  their 
cowardice  and  sloth.  '  Have  I  not  given  what  is  good 
to  each  of  you,'  he  exclaims,  '  that  ye  have  left  me,  so 
that  I  was  alone  in  the  midst  of  hostile  hosts  ?  For- 
saken by  you,  my  life  was  in  peril,  and  you  breathed 
tranquilly,  and  I  was  alone.  Could  you  not  have  said 
in  your  hearts  that  I  was  a  rampart  of  iron  to  you  ? ' 
It  was  the  horses  of  the  royal  chariot  and  not  the  troops 
who  deserved  reward,  and  who  would  obtain  it  when  the 
king  arrived  safely  home.  So  Ramses  '  returned  in 
victory  and  strength  ;  he  had  smitten  hundreds  of 
thousands  all  together  in  one  place  with  his  arm.' 

At  daybreak  the  following  morning  he  desired  to 
renew  the  conflict.  The  serpent  that  glowed  on  the 
front  of  his  diadem  '  spat  fire '  in  the  face  of  his 
enemies.  They  were  overawed  by  the  deeds  of  valour 
he  had  accomplished  single-handed  the  day  before,  and 
feared  to  resume  the  fight.  '  They  remained  afar  off, 
and  threw  themselves  down  on  the  earth,  to  entreat  the 
king  in  the  sight  [of  his  army].  And  the  king  had 
power  over  them  and  slew  them  without  their  being 
able  to  escape.  As  bodies  tumbled  before  his  horses, 
so  they  lay  there  stretched  out  all  together  in  their 
blood.  Then  the  king  of  the  hostile  people  of  the 
Hittites  sent  a  messenger  to  pray  piteously  to  the  great 
name  of  the  king,  speaking  thus:  "Thou  art  Ra-Hor- 
makhis.  Thy  terror  is  upon  the  land'  of  the  Hittites, 
for  thou  hast  broken  the  neck  of  the  Hittites  for  ever 
and  ever."  ' 

The  army  of  Ramses  seconded  the  prayer  of  the 
herald  that  the  Egyptians  and  Hittites  should  hence- 
forward be  '  brothers  together.'  A  treaty  was  accord- 
ingly made  ;  but  it  was  soon  broken,  and  it  was  not 


MONUMENTS  OF  EGYPT  AND  ASSYRIA.  29 

until  sixteen  years  later  that  peace  was  finally  estab- 
lished between  the  two  rival  powers. 

The  act  of  personal  prowess  upon  which  the  heroic 
poem  of  Pentaur  was  built  may  have  covered  what  had 
really  been  a  check  to  the  Egyptian  arms.  At  all 
events,  it  is  significant  that  no  attempt  was  made  to 
capture  Kadesh,  and  that  even  the  poet  acknowledges 
how  ready  the  Egyptian'  soldiers  were  to  come  to  terms 
with  their  enemies.  Equally  significant  is  the  fact  that 
the  war  against  the  Hittites  still  went  on  ;  in  the  eighth 
year  of  the  Pharaoh's  reign  Palestine  was  overrun  and 
certain  cities  captured,  including  Dapur  or  Tabor  '  in 
the  land  of  the  Amorites,'  while  other  campaigns  were 
directed  against  Ashkelon,  in  the  south,  and  the  city  of 
Tunep  or  Tennib,  in  the  north.  When  a  lasting  treaty 
of  peace  was  at  last  concluded  in  the  twenty-first  year 
of  Ramses,  its  conditions  show  that  'the  great  king 
of  the  Hittites '  treated  on  equal  terms  with  the  great 
king  of  Egypt,  and  that  even  Ramses  himself,  whom 
later  legend  magnified  into  the  Sesostris  of  the  Greeks, 
was  fain  to  acknowledge  the  power  of  his  Hittite  ad- 
versaries. The  treaty  was  sealed  by  the  marriage  of 
the  Pharaoh  with  the  daughter  of  the  Hittite  king. 

The  treaty,  of  which  we  possess  the  Egyptian  text  in 
full,  was  a  very  remarkable  one,  not  only  because  it 
is  the  first  treaty  of  the  kind  of  which  we  know,  but 
also  on  account  of  its  contents.  It  ran  as  follows  *  :— 

'  In  the  year  twenty-one,  in  the  month  Tybi,  on  the 
2i st  day  of  the  month,  in  the  reign  of  King  Ramessu 
Miamun,  the  dispenser  of  life  eternally  and  for  ever, 
the  worshipper  of  the  divinities  Amon-Ra  (of  Thebes), 

1  This  translation  is  the  one  given  by  Brugsch  in  the  second  edition  of 
the  English  translation  of  his  History  of  Egypt. 


30  THE  HITTITES. 

Hormakhu  (of  Heliopolis),  Ptah  (of  Memphis),  Mut  the 
lady  of  the  Asher-lake  (near  Karnak),  and  Khonsu,  the 
peace-loving,  there  took  place  a  public  sitting  on  the 
throne  of  Horus  among  the  living,  resembling  his  father 
Hormakhu  in  eternity,  in  eternity,  evermore. 

'  On  that  day  the  king  was  in  the  city  of  Ramses, 
presenting  his  peace-offerings  to  his  father  Amon-Ra, 
and  to  the  gods  Hormakhu-Tum,  to  Ptah  of  Ramessu- 
Miamun,  and  to  Sutekh,  the  strong,  the  son  of  the  god- 
dess of  heaven  Nut,  that  they  might  grant  to  him  many 
thirty  years'  jubilee  feasts,  and  innumerable  happy  years, 
and  the  subjection  of  all  peoples  under  his  feet  for  ever. 

'  Then  came  forward  the  ambassador  of  the  king,  and 
the  Adon  [of  his  house,  by  name  .  .  .  . ,  and  presented  the 
ambassadors]  of  the  great  king  of  Kheta,  Kheta-sira, 
who  were  sent  to  Pharaoh  to  propose  friendship  with 
the  king  Ramessu  Miamun,  the  dispenser  of  life  eter- 
nally and  for  ever,  just  as  his  father  the  Sun-god  [dis- 
penses it]  each  day. 

'  This  is  the  copy  of  the  contents  of  the  silver  tablet, 
which  the  great  king  of  Kheta,  Kheta-sira,  had  caused 
to  be  made,  and  which  was  presented  to  the  Pharaoh 
by  the  hand  of  his  ambassador  Tartisebu  and  his  am- 
bassador Ra-mes,  to  propose  friendship  with  the  king 
Ramessu  Miamun,  the  bull  among  the  princes,  who 
places  his  boundary-marks  where  it  pleases  him  in  all 
lands. 

'The  treaty  which  had  been  proposed  by  the  great 
king  of  Kheta,  Kheta-sira,  the  powerful,  the  son  of 
Maur-sira,  the  powerful,  the  son  of  the  son  of  Sapalil, 
the  great  king  of  Kheta,  the  powerful,  on  the  silver 
tablet,  to  Ramessu  Miamun,  the  great  prince  of  Egypt, 
the  powerful,  the  son  of  Meneptah  Seti,  the  great  prince 


MONUMENTS  OF  EGYPT  AND  ASSYRIA.  31 

of  Egypt,  the  powerful,  the  son's  son  of  Ramessu  I.,  the 
great  king  of  Egypt,  the  powerful, — this  was  a  good 
treaty  for  friendship  and  concord,  which  assured  peace 
[and  established  concord]  for  a  longer  period  than  was 
previously  the  case,  since  a  long  time.  For  it  was  the 
agreement  of  the  great  prince  of  Egypt  in  common  with 
the  great  king  of  Kheta,  that  the  god  should  not  allow 
enmity  to  exist  between  them,  on  the  basis  of  a  treaty. 

'To  wit,  in  the  times  of  Mautal,  the  great  king  of 
Kheta,  my  brother,  he  was  at  war  with  [Meneptah  Seti] 
the  great  prince  of  Egypt. 

'  But  now,  from  this  very  day  forward,  Kheta-sira,  the 
great  king  of  Kheta,  shall  look  upon  this  treaty,  so  that 
the  agreement  may  remain,  which  the  god  Ra  has  made, 
which  the  god  Sutekh  has  made,  for  the  people  of  Egypt 
and  for  the  people  of  Kheta,  that  there  should  be  no 
more  enmity  between  them  for  evermore/ 

And  these  are  the  contents  : — 

'  Kheta-sira,  the  great  king  of  Kheta,  is  in  covenant 
with  Ramessu  Miamun,  the  great  prince  of  Egypt,  from 
this  very  day  forward,  that  there  may  subsist  a  good 
friendship  and  a  good  understanding  between  them  for 
evermore. 

'  He  shall  be  my  ally ;  he  shall  be  my  friend :  I  will 
be  his  ally  ;  I  will  be  his  friend  :  for  ever. 

'  To  wit,  in  the  time  of  Mautal,  the  great  king  of  Kheta, 
his  brother,  after  his  murder  Kheta-sira  placed  himself 
on  the  throne  of  his  father  as  the  great  king  of  Kheta. 
I  strove  for  friendship  with  Ramessu  Miamun,  the  great 
prince  of  Egypt,  and  it  is  [my  wish]  that  the  friendship 
and  the  concord  may  be  better  than  the  friendship  and 
the  concord  which  before  existed,  and  which  was  broken. 

'  J  declare ;  I,  the  great  king  of  Kheta,  will  hold  to- 


32 


THE  HITTITES. 


gether  with  [Ramessu  Miamun],  the  great  prince  of 
Egypt,  in  good  friendship  and  in  good  concord.  The 
sons  of  the  sons  of  the  great  king  of  Kheta  will  hold 
together  and  be  friends  with  the  sons  of  the  sons  of 
Ramessu  Miamun,  the  great  prince  of  Egypt. 

'  In  virtue  of  our  treaty  for  concord,  and  in  virtue  of 
our  agreement  [for  friendship,  let  the  people]  of  Egypt 
[be  united  in  friendship]  with  the  people  of  Kheta. 
Let  a  like  friendship  and  a  like  concord  subsist  in  such 
manner  for  ever. 

'  Never  let  enmity  rise  between  them.  Never  let  the 
great  king  of  Kheta  invade  the  land  of  Egypt,  if  any- 
thing shall  have  been  plundered  from  it.  Never  let 
Ramessu  Miamun,  the  great  prince  of  Egypt,  over-step 
the  boundary  of  the  land  [of  Kheta,  if  anything  shall 
have  been  plundered]  from  it. 

'  The  just  treaty,  which  existed  in  the  times  of  Sapalil, 
the  great  king  of  Kheta,  likewise  the  just  treaty  which 
existed  in  the  times  of  Mautal,  the  great  king  of  Kheta, 
my  brother,  that  will  I  keep. 

4  Ramessu  Miamun,  the  great  prince  of  Egypt,  de- 
clares that  he  will  keep  it.  [We  have  come  to  an  un- 
derstanding about  it]  with  one  another  at  the  same  time 
from  this  day  forward,  and  we  will  fulfil  it,  and  will  act 
in  a  righteous  manner. 

'  If  another  shall  come  as  an  enemy  to  the  lands  of 
Ramessu  Miamun,  the  great  prince  of  Egypt,  then  let 
him  send  an  embassy  to  the  great  king  of  Kheta  to  this 
effect :  "  Come !  and  make  me  stronger  than  him." 
Then  shall  the  great  king  of  Kheta  [assemble  his  war- 
riors], and  the  king  of  Kheta  [shall  come]  to  smite  his 
enemies.  But  if  it  should  not  be  the  wish  of  the  great 
king  of  Kheta  to  march  out  in  person,  then  he  shall 


MONUMENTS  OF  EGYPT  AND  ASSYRIA.  33 

send  his  warriors  and  his  chariots,  that  they  may  smite 
his  enemies.  Otherwise  [he  would  incur]  the  wrath  of 
Ramessu  Miamun,  [the  great  prince  of  Egypt.  And 
if  Ramessu  Miamun,  the  great  prince  of  Egypt,  should 
banish]  for  a  crime  subjects  from  his  country,  and  they 
should  commit  another  crime  against  him,  then  shall 
he  (the  king  of  Kheta)  come  forward  to  kill  them.  The 
great  king  of  Kheta  shall  act  in  common  with  [the  great 
prince  of  Egypt. 

'  If  another  should  come  as  an  enemy  to  the  lands 
of  the  great  king  of  Kheta,  then  shall  he  send  an  em- 
bassy to  the  great  prince  of  Egypt  with  the  request 
that]  he  would  come  in  great  power  to  kill  his  enemies ; 
and  if  it  be  the  intention  of  Ramessu  Miamun,  the  great 
prince  of  Egypt,  to  come  (himself),  he  shall  [smite  the 
enemies  of  the  great  king  of  Kheta.  If  it  is  not  the 
intention  of  the  great  prince  of  Egypt  to  march  out 
in  person,  then  he  shall  send  his  warriors  and  his  two-] 
horse  chariots,  while  he  sends  back  the  answer  to  the 
people  of  Kheta. 

4  If  any  subjects  of  the  great  king  of  Kheta  have  of- 
fended him,  then  Ramessu  Miamun,  [the  great  prince 
of  Egypt,  shall  not  receive  them  in  his  land,  but  shall 
advance  to  kill  them]  ....  the  oath,  with  the  wish  to 
say :  I  will  go  ....  until  ....  Ramessu  Miamun,  the 
great  prince  of  Egypt,  living  for  ever  ....  that  he  may 
be  given  for  them  (?)  to  the  lord,  and  that  Ramessu 
Miamun,  the  great  prince  of  Egypt,  may  speak  accord- 
ing to  his  agreement  evermore.  .  .  . 

'[If  servants  shall  flee  away]  out  of  the  territories  of 
Ramessu  Miamun,  the  great  prince  of  Egypt,  to  betake 
themselves  to  the  great  king  of  Kheta,  the  great  king  of 
Kheta  shall  not  receive  them,  but  the  great  king  of  Kheta 

C 


34  THE  HITTITES. 

shall  give  them  up  to  Ramessu  Miamun,  the  great  prince 
of  Egypt,  [that  they  may  receive  their  punishment. 

'  If  servants  of  Ramessu  Miamun,  the  great  prince  of 
Egypt,  leave  his  country],  and  betake  themselves  to  the 
land  of  Kheta,  to  make  themselves  servants  of  another, 
they  shall  not  remain  in  the  land  of  Kheta  ;  [they  shall 
be  given  up]  to  Ramessu  Miamun,  the  great  prince  of 
Egypt. 

*  If,  on  the  other  hand,  there  should  flee  away  [servants 
of  the  great  king  of  Kheta,  in  order  to  betake  them- 
selves to]  Ramessu  Miamun,  the  great  prince  of  Egypt, 
[in  order  to  stay  in  Egypt],  then  those  who  have  come 
from  the  land  of  Kheta  in  order  to  betake  themselves 
to  Ramessu  Miamun,  the  great  prince  of  Egypt,  shall 
not  be  [received  by]  Ramessu  Miamun,  the  great  prince 
of  Egypt,  [but]  the  great  prince  of  Egypt,  Ramessu 
Miamun,  [shall  deliver  them  up  to  the  great  king  of  Kheta]. 

'  [And  if  there  shall  leave  the  land  of  Kheta  persons] 
of  skilful  mind,  so  that  they  come  to  the  land  of  Egypt 
to  make  themselves  servants  of  another,  then  Ramessu 
Miamun  will  not  allow  them  to  settle,  he  will  deliver 
them  up  to  the  great  king  of  Kheta. 

'  When  this  [treaty]  shall  be  known  [by  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  land  of  Egypt  and  of  the  land  of  Kheta, 
then  shall  they  not  offend  against  it,  for  all  that  stands 
written  on]  the  silver  tablet,  these  are  words  which  will 
have  been  approved  by  the  company  of  the  gods  among 
the  male  gods  and  among  the  female  gods,  among  those 
namely  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  They  are  witnesses  for 
me  [to  the  validity]  of  these  words,  [which  they  have 
allowed. 

'This  is  the  catalogue  of  the  gods  of  the  land  of 
Kheta:— 


MONUMENTS  OF  EGYPT  AND  ASSYRIA.  35 

(1)  '  Sutekh  of  the  city]  of  Tunep  \ 

(2)  '  Sutekh  of  the  land  of  Kheta, 

(3)  '  Sutekh  of  the  city  of  Arnema, 

(4)  '  Sutekh  of  the  city  of  Zaranda, 

(5)  '  Sutekh  of  the  city  of  Pilqa, 

(6)  '  Sutekh  of  the  city  of  Khisasap, 

(7)  '  Sutekh  of  the  city  of  Sarsu, 

(8)  <  Sutekh  of  the  dity  of  Khilip  (Aleppo), 

(9)  '  Sutekh  of  the  city  of , 

(10)  '  Sutekh  of  the  city  of  Sarpina, 

(11)  '  Astarta2  of  the  land  of  Kheta, 

(12)  'The  god  of  the  land  of  Zaiath-khirri, 

(13)  '  The  god  of  the  land  of  Ka  .  .  ., 

(14)  '  The  god  of  the  land  of  Kher  .  .  ., 

(15)  '  The  goddess  of  the  city  of  Akh  .  .  ., 

(16)  '  [The  goddess  of  the  city  of . .  .]  and  of  the  land 

of  A  . .  ua, 

(17)  'The  goddess  of  the  land  of  Zaina, 
(i  8)  '  The  god  of  the  land  of  . .  nath  . .  er. 

1  [I  have  invoked  these  male  and  these]  female  [gods 
of  the  land  of  Kheta,  these  are  the  gods]  of  the  land, 
[as  witnesses  to]  my  oath.  [With  them  have  been  asso- 
ciated the  male  and  the  female  gods]  of  the  mountains 
and  of  the  rivers  of  the  land  of  Kheta,  the  gods  of  the 
land  of  Qazauadana,  Amon,  Ra,  Sutekh,  and  the  male 
and  female  gods  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  of  the  earth,  of 
the  sea,  of  the  winds,  and  of  the  storms. 

1  With  regard  to  the  commandment  which  the  silver 
tablet  contains  for  the  people  of  Kheta  and  for  the 
people  of  Egypt,  he  who  shall  not  observe  it  shall  be 
given  over  [to  the  vengeance]  of  the  company  of  the 

1  Now  Tennib  in  Northern  Syria. 

2  Also  read  Antarata. 

C   2 


36  THE  HITTITES. 

gods  of  Kheta,  and  shall  be  given  over  [to  the  ven- 
geance] of  the  gods  of  Egypt,  [he]  and  his  house  and 
his  servants. 

'But  he  who  shall  observe  these  commandments 
which  the  silver  tablet  contains,  whether  he  be  of  the 
people  of  Kheta  or  [of  the  people  of  Egypt],  because 
he  has  not  neglected  them,  the  company  of  the  gods 
of  the  land  of  Kheta  and  the  company  of  the  gods  of 
the  land  of  Egypt  shall  secure  his  reward  and  preserve 
life  [for  him]  and  his  servants  and  those  who  are  with 
him  and  who  are  with  his  servants. 

'  If  there  flee  away  of  the  inhabitants  [one  from  the 
land  of  Egypt],  or  two  or  three,  and  they  betake  them- 
selves to  the  great  king  of  Kheta  [the  great  king  of 
Kheta  shall  not]  allow  them  [to  remain,  but  he  shall] 
deliver  them  up,  and  send  them  back  to  Ramessu 
Miamun,  the  great  prince  of  Egypt. 

'  Now  with  respect  to  the  [inhabitant  of  the  land  of 
Egypt],  who  is  delivered  up  to  Ramessu  Miamun,  the 
great  prince  of  Egypt,  his  fault  shall  not  be  avenged 
upon  him,  his  [house]  shall  not  be  taken  away,  nor  his 
[wife]  nor  his  [children].  There  shall  not  be  [put  to 
death  his  mother,  neither  shall  he  be  punished  in  his 
eyes,  nor  on  his  mouth,  nor  on  the  soles  of  his  feet], 
so  that  thus  no  crime  shall  be  brought  forward  against 
him. 

'  In  the  same  way  shall  it  be  done  if  inhabitants  of 
the  land  of  Kheta  take  to  flight,  be  it  one  alone,  or  two, 
or  three,  to  betake  themselves  to  Ramessu  Miamun,  the 
great  prince  of  Egypt.  Ramessu  Miamun,  the  great 
prince  of  Egypt,  shall  cause  them  to  be  seized,  and 
they  shall  be  delivered  up  to  the  great  king  of  Kheta. 

4  [With  regard  to]  him  who  [is  delivered  up,  his  crime 


MONUMENTS  OF  EGYPT  AND   ASSYRIA.  37 

shall  not  be  brought  forward  against  him].  His  [house] 
shall  not  be  taken  away,  nor  his  wives,  nor  his  children, 
nor  his  people ;  his  mother  shall  not  be  put  to  death  ; 
he  shall  not  be  punished  in  his  eyes,  nor  on  his  mouth, 
nor  on ,  the  soles  of  his  feet,  nor  shall  any  accusation 
be  brought  forward  against  him. 

'That  which  is  in  the  middle  of  this  silver  tablet  and 
on  its  front  side  is  a  likeness  of  the  god  Sutekh  .... 
surrounded  by  an  inscription  to  this  effect :  "  This  is 
the  [picture]  of  the  god  Sutekh,  the  king  of  heaven 
and  [earth]."  At  the  time  (?)  of  the  treaty  which  Kheta- 
sira,  the  great  king  of  the  Kheta,  made  .  .  .  .' 

This  compact  of  offensive  and  defensive  alliance  proves 
more  forcibly  than  any  description  the  position  to  which 
the  Hittite  empire  had  attained.  It  ranked  side  by  side 
with  the  Egypt  of  Ramses,  the  last  great  Pharaoh  who 
ever  ruled  over  the  land  of  the  Nile.  With  Egypt  it 
had  contested  the  sovereignty  of  Western  Asia,  and 
had  compelled  the  Egyptian  monarch  to  consent  to 
peace.  Egypt  and  the  Hittites  were  now  the  two  lead- 
ing powers  of  the  world. 

The  treaty  was  ratified  by  the  visit  of  the  Hittite 
prince  Kheta-sira  to  Egypt  in  his  national  costume, 
and  the  marriage  of  his  daughter  to  Ramses  in  the 
thirty-fourth  year  of  the  Pharaoh's  reign  (B.  C.  1354). 
She  took  the  Egyptian  name  of  Ur-maa  Noferu-Ra, 
and  her  beauty  was  celebrated  by  the  scribes  of  the 
court.  Syria  was  handed  over  to  the  Hittites  as  their 
legitimate  possession  ;  Egypt  never  again  attempted 
to  wrest  it  from  them,  and  if  the  Hittite  yoke  was  to 
be  shaken  off  it  must  be  through  the  efforts  of  the 
Syrians  themselves.  For  a  while,  however,  'the  great 
king  of  the  Hittites'  preserved  his  power  intact;  his 


38  THE  HITTITES. 

supremacy  was  acknowledged  from  the  Euphrates  in 
the  east  to  the  ^Egean  Sea  in  the  west,  from  Kappa- 
dokia  in  the  north  to  the  tribes  of  Canaan  in  the  south. 
Even  Naharina,  once  the  antagonist  of  the  Egyptian 
Pharaohs,  acknowledged  his  sovereignty,  and  Pethor, 
the  home  of  Balaam,  at  the  junction  of  the  Euphrates 
and  the  Sajur,  became  a  Hittite  town.  The  cities  of 
Philistia,  indeed,  still  sent  tribute  to  the  Egyptian  ruler, 
but  northwards  the  Hittite  sway  seems  to  have  been 
omnipotent.  The  Amorites  of  the  mountains  allied 
themselves  with  '  the  children  of  Heth,'  and  the  Canaan- 
ites  in  the  lowlands  looked  to  them  for  protection.  The 
Israelites  had  not  as  yet  thrust  themselves  between  the 
two  great  powers  of  the  Oriental  world  :  it  was  still  pos- 
sible for  a  Hittite  sovereign  to  visit  Egypt,  and  for  an 
Egyptian  traveller  to  explore  the  cities  of  Canaan. 

After  sixty-six  years  of  vainglorious  splendour  the 
long  reign  of  Ramses  II.  came  to  an  end  (B.  c.  1322). 
The  Israelites  had  toiled  for  him  in  building  Pithom  and 
Raamses,  and  on  the  accession  of  his  son  and  successor, 
Meneptah,  they  demanded  permission  to  depart  from 
Egypt.  The  history  of  the  Exodus  is  too  well  known 
to  be  recounted  here  ;  it  marks  the  close  of  the  period 
of  conquest  and  prosperity  which  Egypt  had  enjoyed 
under  the  kings  of  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth 
dynasties.  Early  in  his  reign  Meneptah  had  sent  corn 
by  sea  to  the  Hittites  at  a  time  when  there  was  a  famine 
in  Syria,  showing  that  the  peaceful  relations  established 
during  the  reign  of  his  father  were  still  in  force.  De- 
spatches dated  in  his  third  year  also  exist,  which  speak 
of  letters  and  messengers  passing  to  and  fro  between 
Egypt  and  Phoenicia,  and  make  it  clear  that  Gaza  was 
still  garrisoned  by  Egyptian  troops.  But  in  the  fifth 


MONUMENTS  OF  EGYPT  AND   ASSYRIA.  39 

year  of  his  reign  Egypt  was  invaded  by  a  confederacy 
of  white-skinned  tribes  from  Libya  and  the  shores  of 
Asia  Minor,  who  overran  the  Delta  and  threatened  the 
very  existence  of  the  Egyptian  monarchy.  Egypt, 
however,  was  saved  by  a  battle  in  which  the  invading 
host  was  almost  annihilated,  but  not  before  it  had  itself 
been  half  drained  of  its  resources,  and  weakened 
correspondingly. 

Not  many  years  afterwards  the  dynasty  of  Ramses 
the  Oppressor  descended  to  its  grave  in  bloodshed  and 
disaster.  Civil  war  broke  out,  followed  by  foreign 
invasion,  and  the  crown  was  seized  by  '  Arisu  the 
Phoenician.'  But  happier  times  again  arrived.  Once 
more  the  Egyptians  obeyed  a  native  prince,  and  the 
Twentieth  Dynasty  was  founded.  Its  one  great  king  was 
Ramses  III.,  who  rescued  his  country  from  two  invasions 
more  formidable  even  than  that  which  had  been  beaten 
back  by  Meneptah.  Like  the  latter,  they  were  conducted 
by  the  Libyans  and  the  nations  of  the  Greek  seas;  and 
the  invaders  were  defeated  partly  on  the  land,  partly  on 
the  water.  The  maritime  confederacy  included  the 
Teukrians  of  the  Troad,  the  Lykians  and  the  Philistines, 
perhaps  also  the  natives  of  Sardinia  and  Sicily.  They 
had  flung  themselves  in  the  first  instance  on  the  coasts 
of  Phoenicia,  and  spread  inland  as  far  as  Carchemish. 
Laden  with  spoil,  they  fixed  their  camp  *  in  the  land  of 
the  Amorites,'  and  then  descended  upon  Egypt.  The 
Hittites  of  Carchemish  and  the  people  of  Matenau  of 
Naharina  came  in  their  train,  and  a  long  and  terrible 
battle  took  place  on  the  sea-shore  between  Raphia  and 
Pelusium.  The  Egyptians  were  victorious ;  the  ships 
of  the  enemy  were  sunk,  and  their  soldiers  slain  or 
captured.  Egypt  was  once  more  filled  with  captives, 


40  THE  HITTITES. 

and  the  flame  of  its  former  glory  flickered  again  for  a 
moment  before  finally  going  out. 

The  list  of  prisoners  shows  that  the  Hittite  tribes  had 
taken  part  in  the  struggle,  Carchemish,  Aleppo,  and 
Pethor  being  specially  named  as  having  sent  contingents 
to  the  war.  They  had  probably  marched  by  land,  while 
their  allies  from  Asia  Minor  and  the  islands  of  the 
Mediterranean  had  attacked  the  Egyptian  coast  in 
ships.  So  far  as  we  can  gather,  the  Hittite  populations 
no  longer  acknowledged  the  suzerainty  of  an  imperial 
sovereign,  but  were  divided  into  independent  states. 
It  would  seem,  too,  that  they  had  lost  their  hold  upon 
Mysia  and  the  far  west.  The  Tsekkri  and  the  Leku, 
the  Shardaina  and  the  Shakalsha  are  said  to  have 
attacked  their  cities  before  proceeding  on  their  south- 
ward march.  If  we  can  trust  the  statement,  we  must 
conclude  that  the  Hittite  empire  had  already  broken 
up.  The  tribes  of  Asia  Minor  it  had  conquered  were  in 
revolt,  and  had  carried  the  war  into  the  homes  of  their 
former  masters.  However  this  may  be,  it  is  certain  that 
from  this  time  forward  the  power  of  the  Hittites  in  Syria 
began  to  wane.  Little  by  little  the  Aramaean  population 
pushed  them  back  into  their  northern  fastnesses,  and 
throughout  the  period  of  the  Israelitish  judges  we  never 
hear  even  of  their  name.  The  Hittite  chieftains  advance 
no  longer  to  the  south  of  Kadesh  ;  and  though  Israel 
was  once  oppressed  by  a  king  who  had  come  from  the 
north,  he  was  king  of  Aram-Naharaim,  the  Naharina  of 
the  Egyptian  texts,  and  not  a  Hittite  prince. 

Where  the  Egyptian  monuments  desert  us,  those  of 
Assyria  come  to  our  help.  The  earliest  notices  of  the 
Hittites  found  in  the  cuneiform  texts  are  contained  in  a 
great  work  on  astronomy  and  astrology,  originally  com- 


MONUMENTS  OF  EGYPT  AND  ASSYRIA.  41 

piled  for  an  early  king  of  Babylonia.  The  references 
to  'the  king  of  the  Hittites,'  however,  which  meet  us  in 
it,  cannot  be  ascribed  to  a  remote  date.  One  of  the 
chief  objects  aimed  at  by  the  author  (or  authors)  of  the 
work  was  to  foretell  the  future,  it  being  supposed  that  a 
particular  event  which  had  followed  a  certain  celestial 
phenomenon  would  be  repeated  when  the  phenomenon 
happened  again.  Consequently  it  was  the  fashion  to 
introduce  into  the  work  from  time  to  time  fresh  notices 
of  events  ;  and  some  of  these  glosses,  as  we  may  term 
them,  are  probably  not  older  than  the  seventh  century 
B.  C.  It  is,  therefore,  impossible  to  determine  the  exact 
date  to  which  the  allusions  to  the  Hittite  king  belong, 
but  there  are  indications  that  it  is  comparatively  late. 
The  first  clear  account  that  the  Assyrian  inscriptions 
give  us  concerning  the  Hittites,  to  which  we  can  attach 
a  date,  is  met  with  in  the  annals  of  Tiglath-pileser  I. 

Tiglath-pileser  I.  was  the  most  famous  monarch  of  the 
first  Assyrian  empire,  and  he  reigned  about  i no  B.C. 
He  carried  his  arms  northward  and  westward,  pene- 
trating into  the  bleak  and  trackless  mountains  of 
Armenia,  and  forcing  his  way  as  far  as  Malatiyeh  in 
Kappadokia.  His  annals  present  us  with  a  very  full 
and  interesting  picture  of  the  geography  of  these  regions 
at  the  time  of  his  reign.  Kummukh  or  Komagene, 
which  at  that  epoch  extended  southward  from  Malatiyeh 
in  the  direction  of  Carchemish,  was  one  of  the  first 
objects  of  his  attack.  '  At  the  beginning  of  my  reign,' 
he  says,  *  20,000  Moschians  (or  men  of  Meshech)  and 
their  five  kings,  who  for  fifty  years  had  taken  possession 
of  the  countries  of  Alzi  and  Purukuzzi,  which  had 
formerly  paid  tribute  and  taxes  to  Assur  my  lord — no 
king  (before  me)  had  opposed  them  in  battle — trusted 


42  THE  HITTITES. 

to  their  strength,  and  came  down  and  seized  the  land  of 
Kummukh.'  The  Assyrian  king,  however,  marched 
against  them,  and  defeated  them  in  a  pitched  battle 
with  great  slaughter,  and  then  proceeded  to  carry  fire 
and  sword  through  the  cities  of  Kummukh.  Its  ruler 
Kili-anteru,  the  son  of  Kali-anteru,  was  captured  along 
with  his  wives  and  family ;  and  Tiglath-pileser  next 
proceeded  to  besiege  the  stronghold  of  Urrakhinas.  Its 
prince  Sadi-anteru,  the  son  of  Khattukhi,  '  the  Hittite,' 
threw  himself  at  the  conqueror's  feet ;  his  life  was 
spared,  and  '  the  wide-spreading  land  of  Kummukh ' 
became  tributary  to  Assyria,  objects  of  bronze  being  the 
chief  articles  it  had  to  offer.  About  the  same  time, 
4000  troops  belonging  to  the  Kaska  or  Kolkhians  and 
the  people  of  Uruma,  both  of  whom  are  described  as 
*  soldiers  of  the  Hittites '  and  as  having  occupied  the 
northern  cities  of  Mesopotamia,  submitted  voluntarily 
to  the  Assyrian  monarch,  and  were  transported  to 
Assyria  along  with  their  chariots  and  their  property. 
Uruma  was  the  Urima  of  classical  geography,  which 
lay  on  the  Euphrates  a  little  to  the  north  of  Birejik,  so 
that  we  know  the  exact  locality  to  which  these  '  Hittite 
soldiers '  belonged.  In  fact,  '  Hittite '  must  have  been  a 
general  name  given  to  the  inhabitants  of  all  this  district; 
the  modern  Merash,  for  instance,  lies  within  the  limits 
of  the  ancient  Kummukh  ;  and,  as  we  shall  see,  it  is  from 
Merash  that  a  long  Hittite  inscription  has  come. 

Tiglath-pileser  attacked  Kummukh  a  second  time, 
and  on  this  occasion  penetrated  still  further  into  the 
mountain  fastnesses  of  the  Hittite  country.  In  a  third 
campaign  his  armies  came  in  sight  of  Malatiyeh  itself, 
but  the  king  contented  himself  with  exacting  a  small 
yearly  tribute  from  the  city,  *  having  had  pity  upon  it, 


MONUMENTS  OF  EGYPT  AND   ASSYRIA.  43 

as  he  tells  us,  though  more  probably  the  truth  was  that 
he  found  himself  unable  to  take  it  by  storm.  But  he 
never  succeeded  in  forcing  his  way  across  the  fords  of 
the  Euphrates,  which  were  commanded  by  the  great 
fortress  of  Carchemish.  Once  he  harried  the  land  of 
Mitanni  or  Naharina,  slaying  and  spoiling  '  in  one  day ' 
from  Carchemish  southwards  to  a  point  that  faced  the 
deserts  of  the  nomad  *Sukhi,  the  Shuhites  of  the  Book 
of  Job.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  he  killed  ten 
elephants  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Harran  and  on  the 
banks  of  the  Khabour,  besides  four  wild  bulls  which  he 
hunted  with  arrows  and  spears  4  in  the  land  of  Mitanni 
and  in  the  city  of  Araziqi1,  which  lies  opposite  to  the 
land  of  the  Hittites.' 

Towards  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century  before  our 
era,  therefore,  the  Hittites  were  still  strong  enough  to 
keep  one  of  the  mightiest  of  the  Assyrian  kings  in 
check.  It  is  true  that  they  no  longer  obeyed  a  single 
head  ;  it  is  also  true  that  that  portion  of  them  which 
was  settled  in  the  land  of  Kummukh  was  overrun  by 
the  Assyrian  armies,  and  forced  to  pay  tribute  to  the 
Assyrian  invader.  But  Carchemish  compelled  the 
respect  of  Tiglath-pileser;  he  never  ventured  to  approach 
its  walls  or  to  cross  the  river  which  it  was  intended  to 
defend.  His  way  was  barred  to  the  west,  and  he  never 
succeeded  in  traversing  the  high  road  which  led  to 
Phoenicia  and  Palestine. 

After  the  death  of  Tiglath-pileser  I.  the  Assyrian 
inscriptions  fail  us.  His  successors  allowed  the  empire 
to  fall  into  decay,  and  more  than  two  hundred  years 
elapsed  before  the  curtain  is  lifted  again.  These  two 
hundred  years  had  witnessed  the  rise  and  fall  of  the 

1  Called  Eragiza  in  classical  geography  and  in  the  Talmud. 


44  THE  HITTITES. 

kingdom  of  David  and  Solomon  as  well  as  the  growth 
of  a  new  power,  that  of  the  Syrians  of  Damascus. 

Damascus  rose  on  the  ruins  of  the  empire  of  Solomon. 
But  its  rise  also  shows  plainly  that  the  power  of  the 
Hittites  in  Syria  was  beginning  to  wane.  Hadad-ezer, 
king  of  Zobah,  the  antagonist  of  David,  had  been  able 
to  send  for  aid  to  the  Arameans  of  Naharina,  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  Euphrates  (2  Sam.  x.  16),  and  with 
them  he  had  marched  to  Helam,  in  which  it  is  possible 
to  see  the  name  of  Aleppo1.  It  is  clear  that  the  Hittites 
were  no  longer  able  to  keep  the  Aramean  population 
in  subjection,  or  to  prevent  an  Aramean  prince  of  Zobah 
from  expelling  them  from  the  territory  they  had  once 
made  their  own.  Indeed,  it  may  be  that  in  one  passage 
of  the  Old  Testament  allusion  is  made  to  an  attack 
which  Hadad-ezer  was  preparing  against  them.  When 
it  is  stated  that  he  was  overthrown  by  David,  '  as  he  was 
going  to  turn  his  hand  against  the  river  Euphrates '  (2 
Sam.  viii.  3),  it  may  be  that  it  was  against  the  Hittites 
of  Carchemish  that  his  armies  were  about  to  be  directed. 
At  any  rate,  support  for  this  view  is  found  in  a  further 
statement  of  the  sacred  historian.  '  When  Toi  king  of 
Hamath,'  we  learn,  '  heard  that  David  had  smitten  all 
the  host  of  Hadad-ezer,  then  Toi  sent  Joram  his  son 
unto  king  David,  to  salute  him,  and  to  bless  him, 
because  he  had  fought  against  Hadad-ezer  and  smitten 
him  ;  for  Hadad-ezer  had  wars  with  Toi '  (2  Sam.  viii. 
9,  TO).  Now  we  know  from  the  monuments  that  have 
been  discovered  on  the  spot  that  Hamath  was  once  a 
Hittite  city,  and  there  is  no  reason  for  not  believing 
that  it  was  still  in  the  possession  of  the  Hittites  in  the 

1  Called  Khalman  in  the  Assyrian  texts.  Josephus  changes  Helam  into 
the  proper  name  Khalaman. 


MONUMENTS  OF  EGYPT  AND  ASSYRIA.  45 

age  of  David.  Its  Syrian  enemies  would  in  that  case 
have  been  the  same  as  the  enemies  of  David,  and  a 
common  danger  would  thus  have  united  it  with  Israel 
in  an  alliance  which  ended  only  in  its  overthrow  by  the 
Assyrians. 

As  late  as  the  time  of  Uzziah,  we  are  told  by  the 
Assyrian  inscriptions,  the  Jewish  king  was  in  league 
with  Hamath,  and  the  last  independent  ruler  of  Hamath 
was  Yahu-bihdi,  a  name  in  which  we  recognise  that 
of  the  God  of  Israel.  Indeed,  the  very  fact  that  the 
Syrians  imagined  that  '  the  kings  of  the  Hittites '  were 
coming  to  the  rescue  of  Samaria,  when  besieged  by  the 
forces  of  Damascus,  goes  to  show  that  Israel  and  the 
Hittites  were  regarded  as  natural  friends,  whose  natural 
adversaries  were  the  Arameans  of  Syria.  As  the  power 
and  growth  of  Israel  had  been  built  up  on  the  conquest 
and  subjugation  of  the  Semitic  populations  of  Palestine, 
so  too  the  power  of  the  Hittites  had  been  gained  at  the 
expense  of  their  Semitic  neighbours.  The  triumph  of 
Syria  was  a  blow  alike  to  the  Hittites  of  Carchemish 
and  to  the  Hebrews  of  Samaria  and  Jerusalem. 

With  Assur-natsir-pal,  whose  reign  extended  from  B.C. 
885  to  860,  contemporaneous  Assyrian  history  begins 
afresh.  His  campaigns  and  conquests  rivalled  those  of 
Tiglath-pileser  I.,  and  indeed  exceeded  them  both  in 
extent  and  in  brutality.  Like  his  predecessor,  he  ex- 
acted tribute  from  Kummukh  as  well  as  from  the  kings 
of  the  country  in  which  Malatiyeh  was  situated  ;  but 
with  better  fortune  than  Tiglath-pileser  he  succeeded  in 
passing  the  Euphrates,  and  obliging  Sangara  of  Carche- 
mish to  pay  him  homage!  It  is  clear  that  Carchemish 
was  no  longer  as  strong  as  it  had  been  two  centuries 
before,  and  that  the  power  of  its  defenders  was  gradually 


46  THE  HITTITES. 

vanishing  away.  There  was  still,  however,  a  small 
Hittite  population  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Euphrates; 
at  all  events,  Assur-natsir-pal  describes  the  tribe  of 
Bakhian  on  that  side  of  the  river  as  Hittite,  and  it  was 
only  after  receiving  tribute  from  them  that  he  crossed 
the  stream  in  boats  and  approached  the  land  of  Gar- 
gamis  or  Carchemish.  But  his  threatened  assault  upon 
the  Hittite  stronghold  was  bought  off  with  rich  and 
numerous  presents.  Twenty  talents  of  silver — the 
favourite  metal  of  the  Hittite  princes — 'cups  of  gold, 
chains  of  gold,  blades  of  gold,  100  talents  of  copper, 
250  talents  of  iron,  gods  of  copper  in  the  form  of  wild 
bulls,  bowls  of  copper,  libation  cups  of  copper,  a  ring  of 
copper,  the  multitudinous  furniture  of  the  royal  palace, 
of  which  the  like  was  never  received,  couches  and 
thrones  of  rare  woods  and  ivory,  200  slave-girls,  gar- 
ments of  variegated  cloth  and  linen,  masses  of  black 
crystal  and  blue  crystal,  precious  stones,  the  tusks  of 
elephants,  a  white  chariot,  small  images  of  gold/  as  well 
as  ordinary  chariots  and  war-horses,  —  such  were  the 
treasures  poured  into  the  lap  of  the  Assyrian  monarch 
by  the  wealthy  but  unwarlike  king  of  Carchemish.  They 
give  us  an  idea  of  the  wealth  to  which  the  city  had 
attained  through  its  favourable  position  on  the  high- 
road of  commerce  that  ran  from  the  east  to  the  west. 
The  uninterrupted  prosperity  of  several  centuries  had 
filled  it  with  merchants  and  riches  ;  in  later  days  we 
find  the  Assyrian  inscriptions  speaking  of  'the  maneh 
of  Carchemish '  as  one  of  the  recognised  standards  of 
value.  Carchemish  had  become  a  city  of  merchants, 
and  no  longer  felt  itself  able  to  oppose  by  arms  the 
trained  warriors  of  the  Assyrian  king. 

Quitting    Carchemish,  Assur-natsir-pal   pursued  his 


MONUMENTS  OF  EGYPT  AND   ASSYRIA.  47 

march  westwards,  and  after  passing  the  land  of  Akhanu 
on  his  left,  fell  upon  the  town  of  Azaz  near  Aleppo, 
which  belonged  to  the  king  of  the  Patinians.  The  latter 
people  were  of  Hittite  descent,  and  occupied  the  country 
between  the  river  Afrin  and  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of 
Antioch.  The  Assyrian  armies  crossed  the  Afrin  and 
appeared  before  the  walls  of  the  Patinian  capital. 
Large  bribes,  howevef,  induced  them  to  turn  away 
southward,  and  to  advance  along  the  Orontes  in  the 
direction  of  the  Lebanon.  Here  Assur-natsir-pal  re- 
ceived the  tribute  of  the  Phoenician  cities. 

Shalmaneser  II.,  the  son  and  successor  of  Assur-natsir- 
pal,  continued  the  warlike  policy  of  his  father  (B.C.  860- 
825).  The  Hittite  princes  were  again  a  special  object 
of  attack.  Year  after  year  Shalmaneser  led  his  armies 
against  them,  and  year  after  year  did  he  return  home 
laden  with  spoil.  The  aim  of  his  policy  is  not  difficult 
to  discover.  He  sought  to  break  the  power  of  the 
Hittite  race  in  Syria,  to  possess  himself  of  the  fords 
across  the  Euphrates  and  the  high-road  which  brought 
the  merchandise  of  Phoenicia  to  the  traders  of  Nineveh, 
and  eventually  to  divert  the  commerce  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean to  his  own  country.  By  the  overthrow  of  the 
Patinians  he  made  himself  master  of  the  cedar  forests 
of  Amanus,  and  his  palaces  were  erected  with  the  help 
of  their  wood.  Sangara  of  Carchemish,  it  is  true,  per- 
ceived his  danger,  and  a  league  of  the  Hittite  princes 
was  formed  to  resist  the  common  foe.  Contingents 
came  not  only  from  Kummukh  and  from  the  Patinians, 
but  from  Cilicia  and  the  mountain  ranges  of  Asia  Minor. 
It  was,  however,  of  no  avail.  The  Hittite  forces  were 
driven  from  the  field,  and  their  leaders  were  compelled 
to  purchase  peace  by  the  payment  of  tribute.  Once 


48  THE  HITTITES. 

more  Carchemish  gave  up  its  gold  and  silver,  its  bronze 
and  copper,  its  purple  vestures  and  curiously-adorned 
thrones,  and  the  daughter  of  Sangara  himself  was  carried 
away  to  the  harem  of  the  Assyrian  king.  Pethor,  the 
city  of  Balaam,  was  turned  into  an  Assyrian  colony,  its 
very  name  being  changed  to  an  Assyrian  one.  The 
way  into  Hamath  and  Phoenicia  at  last  lay  open  to  the 
Assyrian  host.  At  Aleppo  Shalmaneser  offered  sacri- 
fices to  the  native  god  Hadad,  and  then  descended  upon 
the  cities  of  Hamath.  At  Karkar  he  was  met  by  a 
great  confederacy  formed  by  the  kings  of  Hamath  and 
Damascus,  to  which  Ahab  of  Israel  had  contributed 
2000  chariots  and  10,000  men.  But  nothing  could 
withstand  the  onslaught  of  the  Assyrian  veterans.  The 
enemy  were  scattered  like  chaff,  and  the  river  Orontes 
was  reddened  with  their  blood.  The  battle  of  Karkar 
(in  B.C.  854)  brought  the  Assyrians  into  contact  with 
Damascus,  and  caused  Jehu  on  a  later  occasion  to  send 
tribute  to  the  Assyrian  king. 

The  subsequent  history  of  Shalmaneser  concerns  us 
but  little.  The  power  of  the  Hittites  south  of  the 
Taurus  had  been  broken  for  ever.  The  Semite  had 
avenged  himself  for  the  conquest  of  his  country  by  the 
northern  mountaineers  centuries  before.  They  no  longer 
formed  a  barrier  which  cut  off  the  east  from  the  west, 
and  prevented  the  Semites  of  Assyria  and  Babylon 
from  meeting  the  Semites  of  Phoenicia  and  Palestine. 
The  intercourse  which  had  been  interrupted  in  the  age 
of  the  nineteenth  dynasty  of  Egypt  could  now  be  again 
resumed.  Carchemish  ceased  to  command  the  fords  of 
the  Euphrates,  and  was  forced  to  acknowledge  the  su- 
premacy of  the  Assyrian  invader.  In  fact,  the  Hittites 
of  Syria  had  become  little  more  than  tributaries  of  the 


MONUMENTS  OF  EGYPT  AND   ASSYRIA.  49 

Assyrian  monarch.  When  an  insurrection  broke  out 
among  the  Patinians,  in  consequence  of  which  the  right- 
ful king  was  killed  and  his  throne  seized  by  an  usurper, 
Shalmaneser  claimed  and  exercised  the  right  to  inter- 
fere. A  new  sovereign  was  appointed  by  him,  and  he 
set  up  an  image  of  himself  in  the  capital  city  of  the 
Patinian  people. 

The  change  that  had  come  over  the  relations  between 
the  Assyrians  and  the  Hittite  population  is  marked  by 
a  curious  fact.  From  the  time  of  Shalmaneser  onwards, 
the  name  of  Hittite  is  no  longer  used  by  the  Assyrian 
writers  in  a  correct  sense.  It  is  extended  so  as  to 
embrace  all  the  inhabitants  of  Northern  Syria  on  the 
western  side  of  the  Euphrates,  and  subsequently  came 
to  include  the  inhabitants  of  Palestine  as  well.  Khatta 
or  '  Hittite '  became  synonymous  with  Syrian.  How 
this  happened  is  not  difficult  to  explain.  The  first 
populations  of  Syria  with  whom  the  Assyrians  had 
come  into  contact  were  of  Hittite  origin.  When  their 
power  was  broken,  and  the  Assyrian  armies  had  forced 
their  way  past  the  barrier  they  had  so  long  presented 
to  the  invader,  it  was  natural  that  the  states  next 
traversed  by  the  Assyrian  generals  should  be  supposed 
also  to  belong  to  them.  Moreover,  many  of  these  states 
were  actually  dependent  on  the  Hittite  princes,  though 
inhabited  by  an  Aramean  people.  The  Hittites  had 
imposed  their  yoke  upon  an  alien  race  of  Aramean 
descent,  and  accordingly  in  Northern  Syria  Hittite  and 
Aramean  cities  and  tribes  were  intermingled  together. 
'  I  took/  says  Shalmaneser,  '  what  the  men  of  the  land 
of  the  Hittites  had  called  the  city  of  Pethor  (Pitru\ 
which  is  upon  the  river  Sajur  (Sagura),  on  the  further 
side  of  the  Euphrates,  and  the  city  of  Mudkinu,  on  the 

D 


50  THE  HITTITES 

eastern  side  of  the  Euphrates,  which  Tiglath-pileser  (I.), 
the  royal  forefather  who  went  before  me,  had  united 
to  my  country,  and  Assur-rab-buri  king  of  Assyria  and 
the  king  of  the  Arameans  had  taken  (from  it)  by  a 
treaty/  At  a  later  date  Shalmaneser  marched  from 
Pethor  to  Aleppo,  and  there  offered  sacrifices  to  *  the 
god  of  the  city,'  Hadad-Rimmon,  whose  name  betrays 
the  Semitic  character  of  its  population.  The  Hittites, 
in  short,  had  never  been  more  than  a  conquering  upper 
class  in  Syria,  like  the  Normans  in  Sicily;  and  as  time 
went  on  the  subject  population  gained  more  and  more 
upon  them.  Like  all  similar  aristocracies,  they  tended 
to  die  out  or  to  be  absorbed  into  the  native  population 
of  the  country. 

They  still  held  possession  of  Carchemish,  however, 
and  the  decadence  of  the  first  Assyrian  empire  gave 
them  an  unexpected  respite.  But  the  revolution  which 
placed  Tiglath-pileser  III.  on  the  throne  of  Assyria,  in 
B.  C.  725,  brought  with  it  the  final  doom  of  Hittite 
supremacy.  Assyria  entered  upon  a  new  career  of 
conquest,  and  under  its  new  rulers  established  an  empire 
which  extended  over  the  whole  of  Western  Asia.  In 
B.C.  717  Carchemish  finally  fell  before  the  armies  of 
Sargon,  and  its  last  king  Pisiris  became  the  captive  of 
the  Assyrian  king.  Its  trade  and  wealth  passed  into 
Assyrian  hands,  it  was  colonised  by  Assyrians  and 
placed  under  an  Assyrian  satrap.  The  great  Hittite 
stronghold  on  the  Euphrates,  which  had  been  for  so 
many  centuries  the  visible  sign  of  their  power  and 
southern  conquests,  became  once  more  the  possession 
of  a  Semitic  people.  The  long  struggle  that  had  been 
carried  on  between  the  Hittites  and  the  Semites  was 
at  an  end ;  the  Semite  had  triumphed,  and  the  Hittite 


MONUMENTS  OF  EGYPT  AND  ASSYRIA.  51 

was  driven  back  into  the  mountains  from  whence  he 
had  come. 

But  he  did  not  yield  without  a  struggle.  The  year 
following  the  capture  of  Carchemish  saw  Sargon  con- 
fronted by  a  great  league  of  the  northern  peoples, 
Meshech,  Tubal,  Melitene  and  others,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  the  king  of  Ararat.  The  league,  however,  was 
shattered  in  a  decisive  battle,  the  king  of  Ararat 
committed  suicide,  and  in  less  than  three  years 
Komagene  was  annexed  to  the  Assyrian  empire.  The 
Semite  of  Nineveh  was  supreme  in  the  Eastern  world. 

Ararat  was  the  name  given  by  the  Assyrians  to  the 
district  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  Lake  Van, 
as  well  as  to  the  country  to  the  south  of  it.  It  was 
not  until  post-Biblical  days  that  the  name  was  extended 
to  the  north,  so  that  the  modern  Mount  Ararat  obtained 
a  title  which  originally  belonged  to  the  Kurdish  range 
in  the  south.  But  Ararat  was  not  the  native  name 
of  the  country.  This  was  Biainas  or  Bianas,  a  name 
which  still  survives  in  that  of  Lake  Van.  Numerous 
inscriptions  are  scattered  over  the  country,  written  in 
cuneiform  characters  borrowed  from  Nineveh  in  the 
time  of  Assur-natsir-pal  or  his  son  Shalmaneser,  but 
in  a  language  which  bears  no  resemblance  to  that  of 
Assyria.  They  record  the  building  of  temples  and 
palaces,  the  offerings  made  to  the  gods,  and  the  cam- 
paigns of  the  Vannic  kings.  Among  the  latter  mention 
is  made  of  campaigns  against  the  Khate  or  Hittites. 

The  first  of  these  campaigns  was  conducted  by  a 
king  called  Menuas,  who  reigned  in  the  ninth  century 
before  our  era.  He  overran  the  land  of  Alzi,  and  then 
found  himself  in  the  land  of  the  Hittites.  Here  he 
plundered  the  cities  of  Surisilis  and  Tarkhi-gamas, 

D  2 


52  THE  HITTITES. 

belonging  to  the  Hittite  prince  Sada-halis,  and  captured 
a  number  of  soldiers,  whom  he  dedicated  to  the  service 
of  his  god  Khaldis.  On  another  occasion  he  marched 
as  far  as  the  city  of  Malatiyeh,  and  after  passing  through 
the  country  of  the  Hittites,  caused  an  inscription  com- 
memorating his  conquests  to  be  engraved  on  the  cliffs 
of  Palu.  Palu  is  situated  on  the  northern  bank  of  the 
Euphrates,  about  midway  between  Malatiyeh  and  Van, 
and  as  it  lies  to  the  east  of  the  ancient  district  of  Alzi, 
we  can  form  some  idea  of  the  exact  geographical 
position  to  which  the  Hittites  of  Menuas  must  be 
assigned.  His  son  and  successor,  Argistis  I,  again  made 
war  upon  them,  and  we  gather  from  one  of  his  in- 
scriptions that  the  city  of  Malatiyeh  was  itself  included 
among  their  fortresses.  The  '  land  of  the  Hittites/ 
according  to  the  statements  of  the  Vannic  kings,  stretched 
along  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  from  Palu  on  the 
east  as  far  as  Malatiyeh  on  the  west. 

The  Hittites  of  the  Assyrian  monuments  lived  to  the 
south-west  of  this  region,  spreading  through  Komagene 
to  Carchemish  and  Aleppo.  The  Egyptian  records 
bring  them  yet  further  south  to  Kadesh  on  the  Orontes, 
while  the  Old  Testament  carries  the  name  into  the 
extreme  south  of  Palestine.  It  is  evident,  therefore, 
that  we  must  see  in  the  Hittite  tribes  fragments  of  a 
race  whose  original  seat  was  in  the  ranges  of  the  Taurus, 
but  who  had  pushed  their  way  into  the  warm  plains 
and  valleys  of  Syria  and  Palestine.  They  belonged 
originally  to  Asia  Minor,  not  to  Syria,  and  it  was 
conquest  only  which  gave  them  a  right  to  the  name 
of  Syrians.  '  Hittite'  was  their  true  title,  and  whether 
the  tribes  to  which  it  belonged  lived  in  Judah  or  on 
the  Orontes,  at  Carchemish  or  in  the  neighbourhood  oi 


MONUMENTS  OF  EGYPT  AND  ASSYRIA.  53 

Palu,  this  was  the  title  under  which  they  were  known. 
We  must  regard  it  as  a  national  name,  which  clung  to 
them  in  all  their  conquests  and  migrations,  and  marked 
them  out  as  a  peculiar  people,  distinct  from  the  other 
races  of  the  Eastern  world.  It  is  now  time  to  see  what 
their  own  monuments  have  to  tell  us  regarding  them, 
and  the  influence  they  exercised  upon  the  history  of 
mankind. 


A  SLAB    FOUND   AT    MERASH. 


CHAPTER   III. 


THE   HITTITE   MONUMENTS. 

IT  was  a  warm  and  sunny  September  morning  when 
I  left  the  little  town  of  Nymphi  near  Smyrna  with 
a  strong  escort  of  Turkish  soldiers,  and  made  my  way 
to  the  Pass  of  Karabel.  The  Pass  of  Karabel  is  a 
narrow  defile,  shut  in  on  either  side  by  lofty  cliffs, 
through  which  ran  the  ancient  road  from  Ephesos  in 
the  south  to  Sardes  and  Smyrna  in  the  north.  The 
Greek  historian  Herodotos  tells  us  that  the  Egyptian 
conqueror  Sesostris  had  left  memorials  of  himself  in 
this  place.  'Two  images  cut  by  him  in  the  rock'  were 
to  be  seen  beside  the  roads  which  led  '  from  Ephesos 


THE  PIITTITE  MONUMENTS.  55 

to  Phokaea  and  from  Sardes  to  Smyrna.  On  either 
side  a  man  is  carved,  a  little  over  three  feet  in  height, 
who  holds  a  spear  in  the  right  hand  and  a  bow  in  the 
left.  The  rest  of  his  accoutrement  is  similar,  for  it  is 
Egyptian  and  Ethiopian,  and  from  one  shoulder  to  the 
other,  right  across  the  breast,  Egyptian  hieroglyphics 
have  been  cut  which  declare  :  "  I  have  won  this  land 
with  my  shoulders."' 

These  two  images  were  the  object  of  my  journey. 
One  of  them  had  been  discovered  by  Renouard  in  1839, 
and  shortly  afterwards  sketched  by  Texier ;  the  other 
had  been  found  by  Dr.  Beddoe  in  1856.  But  visitors 
to  the  Pass  in  which  they  were  engraved  were  few  and 
far  between  ;  the  cliffs  on  either  side  were  the  favourite 
haunt  of  brigands,  and  thirty  soldiers  were  not  deemed 
too  many  to  protect  my  safety.  My  work  of  exploration 
had  to  be  carried  on  under  the  shelter  of  their  guns,  for 
more  than  twenty  bandits  were  lurking  under  the 
brushwood  above. 

The  sculpture  sketched  by  Texier  had  subsequently 
been  photographed  by  Mr.  Svoboda.  It  represents  a 
warrior  whose  height  is  rather  more  than  life-size,  and 
who  stands  in  profile  with  the  right  foot  planted  in  front 
of  mm,  in  the  attitude  of  one  who  is  marching.  In  his 
right  hand  he  holds  a  spear,  behind  his  left  shoulder 
is  slung  a  bow,  and  the  head  is  crowned  with  a  high 
peaked  cap.  He  is  clad  in  a  tunic  which  reaches  to 
the  knees,  and  his  feet  are  shod  with  boots  with  turned- 
up  ends.  The  whole  figure  is  cut  in  deep  relief  in  an 
artificial  niche,  and  between  the  spear  and  the  face  are 
three  lines  of  hieroglyphic  characters.  The  figure  faces 
south,  and  is  carved  on  the  face  of  the  eastern  cliff  of 
Karabel. 


56  THE  HITTITES. 

It  had  long  been  recognised  that  the  hieroglyphics 
were  not  those  of  Egypt,  and  Professor  Perrot  had  also 
drawn  attention  to  the  striking  resemblance  between 
the  style  of  art  represented  by  this  sculpture  and  that 
represented  by  certain  rock-sculptures  in  Kappadokia, 
as  well  as  by  the  sculptured  image  of  a  warrior  dis- 
covered by  himself  at  a  place  called  Ghiaur-kalessi, 
'  the  castle  of  the  infidel/  in  Phrygia,  which  is  practically 
identical  in  form  and  character  with  the  sculptured 
warrior  of  Karabel. 

What  was  the  origin  of  this  art,  or  who  were  the 
people  it  commemorated,  was  a  matter  of  uncertainty. 
A  few  weeks,  however,  before  my  visit  to  the  Pass  of 
Karabel,  I  announced l  that  I  had  come  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  art  was  Hittite,  and  that  the  hiero- 
glyphics accompanying  the  figure  at  Karabel  would 
turn  out,  when  carefully  examined,  to  be  Hittite  also. 
The  primary  purpose  of  my  visit  to  the  pass  was  to 
verify  this  conclusion. 

Let  us  now  see  how  I  had  arrived  at  it.  The  story 
is  a  long  one,  and  in  order  to  understand  it,  it  is 
necessary  to  transport  ourselves  from  the  Pass  of 
Karabel  in  Western  Asia  Minor  to  Hamah,  the  site  of 
the  ancient  Hamath,  in  the  far  east.  It  was  here  that 
the  first  discovery  was  made  which  has  led  by  slow 
degrees  to  the  reconstruction  of  the  Hittite  empire, 
and  a  recognition  of  the  important  part  once  played 
by  the  Hittites  in  the  history  of  the  civilised  world. 

As  far  back  as  the  beginning  of  the  present  century 
(in  1812)  the  great  Oriental  traveller  Burckhardt  had 
noticed  a  block  of  black  basalt  covered  with  strange- 
looking  hieroglyphics  built  into  the  corner  of  a  house 
1  In  the  Academy  of  Aug.  i6th,  1879. 


THE  HITTITE   MONUMENTS.  57 

in  one  of  the  bazaars  of  Hamah1.  But  the  discovery 
was  forgotten,  and  the  European  residents  in  Hamah, 
like  the  travellers  who  visited  the  city,  were  convinced 
that  c  no  antiquities  '  were  to  be  found  there.  Nearly 
sixty  years  later,  however,  when  the  American  Pales- 
tine Exploration  Society  was  first  beginning  its  work, 
the  American  consul,  Mr.  Johnson,  and  an  American 
missionary,  Mr.  Jessup,  accidentally  lighted  again  upon 
this  stone,  and  further  learned  that  three  other  stones  of 
similar  character,  and  inscribed  with  similar  hierogly- 
phics, existed  elsewhere  in  Hamah.  One  of  them,  of 
very  great  length,  was  believed  to  be  endowed  with 
healing  properties.  Rheumatic  patients,  Mohammedans 
and  Christians  alike,  were  in  the  habit  of  stretching  them- 
selves upon  it,  in  the  firm  belief  that  their  pains  would 
be  absorbed  into  the  stone.  The  other  inscribed  stones 
were  also  regarded  with  veneration,  which  naturally 
increased  when  it  was  known  that  they  were  being 
sought  after  by  the  Franks  ;  and  the  two  Americans 
found  it  impossible  to  see  them  all,  much  less  to  take 
copies  of  the  inscriptions  they  bore.  They  had  to  be 
content  with  the  miserable  attempts  at  reproducing 
them  made  by  a  native  painter,  one  of  which  was  after- 
wards published  in  America.  The  publication  served 
to  awaken  the  interest  of  scholars  in  the  newly  dis- 
covered inscriptions,  and  efforts  were  made  by  Sir 
Richard  Burton  and  others  to  obtain  correct  impressions 
of  them.  All  was  in  vain,  however,  and  it  is  probable 
that  the  fanaticism  or  greed  of  the  people  of  Hamah 
would  have  successfully  resisted  all  attempts  to  procure 
trustworthy  copies  of  the  texts,  had  not  a  lucky  accident 
brought  Dr.  William  Wright  to  the  spot.  It  is  to  his 

1  Travels  in  Syria,  p.  146. 


58  THE  HITTITES. 

energy  and  devotion  that  the  preservation  of  these 
precious  relics  of  Hittite  literature  may  be  said  to  be 
due.  '  On  the  loth  of  November,  1872,'  he  tells  us, 
he  '  set  out  from  Damascus,  intent  on  securing  the 
Hamah  inscriptions.  The  Sublime  Porte,  seized  by 
a  periodic  fit  of  reforming  zeal,  had  appointed  an  honest 
man,  Subhi  Pasha,  to  be  governor  of  Syria.  Subhi  Pasha 
brought  a  conscience  to  his  work,  and,  not  content  with 
redressing  wrongs  that  succeeded  in  forcing  their  way 
into  his  presence,  resolved  to  visit  every  district  of  his 
province,  in  order  that  he  might  check  the  spoiler  and 
discover  the  wants  of  the  people.  He  invited  me  to 
accompany  him  on  a  tour  to  Hamah,  and  I  gladly 
accepted  the  invitation.'  Along  with  Mr.  Green,  the 
English  Consul,  accordingly,  Dr.  Wright  joined  the 
party  of  the  Pasha ;  and,  fearing  that  the  same  fate  might 
befall  the  Hamath  stones  as  had  befallen  the  Moabite 
Stone,  which  had  been  broken  into  pieces  to  save  it 
from  the  Europeans,  persuaded  him  to  buy  them,  and 
send  them  as  a  present  to  the  Museum  at  Constan- 
tinople. When  the  news  became  known  in  Hamah, 
there  were  murmurings  long  and  deep  against  the 
Pasha,  and  it  became  necessary,  not  only  to  appeal 
to  the  cupidity  and  fear  of  the  owners  of  the  stones, 
but  also  to  place  them  under  the  protection  of  a  guard 
of  soldiers  the  night  before  the  work  of  removing  them 
was  to  commence. 

The  night  was  an  anxious  one  to  Dr.  Wright  ;  but 
when  day  dawned,  the  stones  were  still  safe,  and  the 
labour  of  their  removal  was  at  once  begun.  It  '  was 
effected  by  an  army  of  shouting  men,  who  kept  the 
city  in  an  uproar  during  the  whole  day.  Two  of  them 
had  to  be  taken  out  of  the  walls  of  inhabited  houses, 


THE  HITTITE  MONUMENTS.  59 

and  one  of  them  was  so  large  that  it  took  fifty  men 
and  four  oxen  a  whole  day  to  drag  it  a  mile.  The 
other  stones  were  split  in  two,  and  the  inscribed  parts 
were  carried  on  the  backs  of  camels  to  the'  court  of 
the  governor's  palace.  Here  they  could  be  cleaned  and 
copied  at  leisure  and  in  safety. 

But  the  work  of  cleaning  them  from  the  accumulated 
dirt  of  ages  occupied*  the  greater  part  of  two  days. 
Then  came  the  task  of  making  casts  of  the  inscriptions, 
with  the  help  of  gypsum  which  some  natives  had  been 
bribed  to  bring  from  the  neighbourhood.  At  length, 
however,  the  work  was  completed,  and  Dr.  Wright 
had  the  satisfaction  of  sending  home  to  England  two 
sets  of  casts  of  these  ancient  and  mysterious  texts,  one 
for  the  British  Museum,  the  other  for  the  Palestine 
Exploration  Fund,  while  the  originals  themselves  were 
safely  deposited  in  the  Museum  of  Constantinople.  It 
was  now  time  to  inquire  what  the  inscriptions  meant, 
and  who  could  have  been  the  authors  of  them. 

Dr.  Wright  at  once  suggested  that  they  were  the  work 
of  the  Hittites,  and  that  they  were  memorials  of  Hittite 
writing.  But  his  suggestion  was  buried  in  the  pages  of  a 
periodical  better  known  to  theologians  than  to  Oriental- 
ists} and  the  world  agreed  to  call  the  writing  by  the 
name  of  Hamathite.  It  specially  attracted  the  notice  of 
Dr.  Hayes  Ward  of  New  York,  who  discovered  that  the 
inscriptions  were  written  in  boustrophedon  fashion,  that 
is  to  say,  that  the  lines  turned  alternately  from  right 
to  left  and  from  left  to  right,  like  oxen  when  plowing 
a  field,  the  first  line  beginning  on  the  right  and  the  line 
following  on  the  left.  The  lines  read,  in  fact,  from  the 
direction  towards  which  the  characters  look. 
.  Dr.  Hayes  Ward  also  made  another  discovery.  In 


6o  THE  HITTITES. 

the  ruins  of  the  great  palace  of  Nineveh  Sir  A.  H.  Layard 
had  discovered  numerous  clay  impressions  of  seals  once 
attached  to  documents  of  papyrus  or  parchment.  The 
papyrus  and  parchment  have  long  since  perished,  but 
the  seals  remain,  with  the  holes  through  which  the  strings 
passed  that  attached  them  to  the  original  deeds.  Some 
of  the  seals  are  Assyrian,  some  Phoenician,  others  again 
are  Egyptian,  but  there  are  a  few  which  have  upon  them 
strange  characters  such  as  had  never  been  met  with 
before.  It  was  these  characters  which  Dr.  Hayes  Ward 
perceived  to  be  the  same  as  those  found  upon  the  stones 
of  Hamah,  and  it  was  accordingly  supposed  that  the 
seals  were  of  Hamathite  origin. 

In  1876,  two  years  after  the  publication  of  Dr.  Wright's 
article,  of  which  I  had  never  heard  at  the  time,  I  read  a 
Paper  on  the  Hamathite  inscriptions  before  the  Society 
of  Biblical  Archaeology.  In  this  I  put  forward  a  number 
of  conjectures,  one  of  them  being  that  the  Hamathite 
hieroglyphs  were  the  source  of  the  curious  syllabary  used 
for  several  centuries  in  the  island  of  Cyprus,  and  another 
that  the  hieroglyphs  were  not  an  invention  of  the  early 
inhabitants  of  Hamath,  but  represented  the  system  of 
writing  employed  by  the  Hittites.  We  know  from  the 
Egyptian  records  that  the  Hittites  could  write,  and  that 
a  class  of  scribes  existed  among  them,  and,  since  Hamath 
lay  close  to  the  borders  of  the  Hittite  kingdoms,  it 
seemed  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  unknown  form  of 
script  discovered  on  its  site  was  Hittite  rather  than 
Hamathite.  The  conjecture  was  confirmed  almost  imme- 
diately afterwards  by  the  discovery  of  the  site  of  Car- 
chemish,  the  great  Hittite  capital,  and  of  inscriptions 
there  in  the  same  system  of  writing  as  that  found  on  the 
stones  of  Hamah. 


THE  HITTITE  MONUMENTS.  6 1 

It  was  not  long,  therefore,  before  the  learned  world 
began  to  recognise  that  the  newly-discovered  script  was 
the  peculiar  possession  of  the  Hittite  race.  Dr.  Hayes 
Ward  was  one  of  the  first  to  do  so,  and  the  Trustees  of 
the  British  Museum  determined  to  institute  excavations 
among  the  ruins  of  Carchemish.  Meanwhile  notice  was 
drawn  to  a  fact  which  showed  that  the  Hittite  characters, 
as  we  shall  now  call  them,  were  employed,  not  only  at 
Hamath  and  Carchemish,  but  in  Asia  Minor  as  well. 

More  than  a  century  ago  a  German  traveller  had 
observed  two  figures  carved  on  a  wall  of  rock  near 
Ibreez,  or  Ivris,  in  the  territory  of  the  ancient  Lykaonia. 
One  of  them  was  a  god,  who  carried  in  his  hand  a  stalk 
of  corn  and  a  bunch  of  grapes,  the  other  was  a  man,  who 
stood  before  the  god  in  an  attitude  of  adoration.  Both 
figures  were  shod  with  boots  with  upturned  ends,  and 
the  deity  wore  a  tunic  that  reached  to  his  knees,  while 
on  his  head  was  a  peaked  cap  ornamented  with  horn- 
like ribbons.  A  century  elapsed  before  the  sculpture 
was  again  visited  by  an  European  traveller,  and  it  was 
again  a  German  who  found  his  way  to  the  spot.  On 
this  occasion  a  drawing  was  made  of  the  figures,  which 
was  published  by  Ritter  in  his  great  work  on  the 
geography  of  the  world.  But  the  drawing  was  poor 
and  imperfect,  and  the  first  attempt  to  do  adequate 
justice  to  the  original  was  made  by  the  Rev.  E.  J.  Davis 
in  1875.  He  published  his  copy,  and  an  account  of  the 
monument,  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Biblical 
Archceology  the  following  year.  He  had  noticed  that 
the  figures  were  accompanied  by  what  were  known  at 
the  time  as  Hamathite  characters.  Three  lines  of  these 
were  inserted  between  the  face  of  the  god  and  his  uplifted 
left  arm,  four  lines  more  were  engraved  behind  his  wor- 


62  THE  HITTITES. 

shipper,  while  below,  on  a  level  with  an  aqueduct  which 
fed  a  mill,  were  yet  other  lines  of  half-obliterated 
hieroglyphs.  It  was  plain  that  in  Lykaonia  also,  where 
the  old  language  of  the  country  still  lingered  in  the  days 
of  St.  Paul,  the  Hittite  system  of  writing  had  once  been 
used. 

Another  stone  inscribed  with  Hittite  characters  had 
come  to  light  at  Aleppo.  Like  those  of  Hamath,  it  was 
of  black  basalt,  and  had  been  built  into  a  modern  wall. 
The  characters  upon  it  were  worn  by  frequent  attrition, 
the  people  of  Aleppo  believing  that  whoever  rubbed  his 
eyes  upon  it  would  be  immediately  cured  of  ophthalmia. 
More  than  one  copy  of  the  inscription  was  taken,  but 
the  difficulty  of  distinguishing  the  half-obliterated  charac- 
ters rendered  the  copies  of  little  service,  and  a  cast  of 
the  stone  was  about  to  be  made  when  news  arrived  that 
the  fanatics  of  Aleppo  had  destroyed  it.  Rather  than 
allow  its  virtue  to  go  out  of  it — to  be  stolen,  as  they 
fancied,  by  the  Europeans — they  preferred  to  break  it  in 
pieces.  It  is  one  of  the  many  monuments  that  have 
perished  at  the  very  moment  when  their  importance 
first  became  known. 

This,  then,  was  the  state  of  our  knowledge  in  the 
summer  of  1879.  We  knew  that  the  Hittites,  with 
whom  Hebrews  and  Egyptians  and^Assyrians  had  once 
been  in  contact,  possessed  a  hieroglyphic  system  of 
writing,  and  that  this  system  of  writing  was  found  on 
monuments  in  Hamath,  Aleppo,  Carchemish,  and  Ly- 
kaonia. We  knew,  too,  that  in  Lykaonia  it  accompanied 
figures  carved  out  of  the  rock  in  a  peculiar  style  of  art, 
and  represented  as  wearing  a  peculiar  kind  of  dress. 

Suddenly  the  truth  flashed  upon  me.  This  peculiar 
style  of  art,  this  peculiar  kind  of  dress,  was  the  same  as 


THE  HITTITE  MONUMENTS.  65 

that  which  distinguished  the  sculptures  of  Karabel,  of 
Ghiaur-kalessi,  and  of  Kappadokia.  In  all  alike  we  had 
the  same  characteristic  features,  the  same  head-dresses 
and  shoes,  the  same  tunics,  the  same  clumsy  massiveness 
of  design  and  characteristic  attitude.  The  figures  carved 
upon  the  rocks  of  Karabel  and  Kappadokia  must  be 
memorials  of  Hittite  art.  The  clue  to  their  origin  and 
history  was  at  last  discovered  ;  the  birthplace  of  the 
strange  art  which  had  produced  them  was  made  manifest. 
A  little  further  research  made  the  fact  doubly  sure.  The 
photographs  Professor  Perrot  had  taken  of  the  monuments 
of  Boghaz  Keui  in  Kappadokia  included  one  of  an  in- 
scription in  ten  or  eleven  lines.  The  characters  of  this 
inscription  were  worn  and  almost  illegible,  but  not  only 
were  they  in  relief,  like  the  characters  of  all  other  Hittite 
inscriptions  known  at  the  time,  among  them  two  or 
three  hieroglyphs  stood  out  clearly,  which  were  identical 
with  those  on  the  stones  of  Hamath  and  Carchemish. 
All  that  was  needed  to  complete  the  verification  of  my 
discovery  was  to  visit  the  Pass  of  Karabel,  and  see 
whether  the  hieroglyphs  Texier  and  others  had  found 
there  likewise  belonged  to  the  Hittite  script. 

More  than  three  hours  did  I  spend  in  the  niche  wherein 
the  figure  is  carved  which  Herodotos  believed  was  a 
likeness  of  the  Egyptian  Sesostris.  It  was  necessary  to 
take  ' squeezes'  as  well  as  copies,  if  I  would  recover  the 
characters  of  the  inscription  and  ascertain  their  exact 
forms.  My  joy  was  great  at  finding  that  they  were 
Hittite,  and  that  the  conclusion  I  had  arrived  at  in  my 
study  at  home  was  confirmed  by  the  monument  itself. 
The  Sesostris  of  Herodotos  turned  out  to  be,  not  the 
great  Pharaoh  who  contended  with  the  Hittites  of 
Kadesh,  but  a  symbol  of  the  far-reaching  power  and 

£ 


66  THE  HITTITES. 

influence  of  his  mighty  opponents.  Hittite  art  and 
Hittite  writing,  if  not  the  Hittite  name,  were  proved  to 
have  been  known  from  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  to 
the  shores  of  the  ^Egean  Sea. 

The  stone  warrior  of  Karabel  stands  in  his  niche  in 
the  cliff  at  a  considerable  height  above  the  path,  and 
the  direction  in  which  he  is  marching  is  that  which 
would  have  led  him  to  Ephesos  and  the  Maeander. 
His  companion  lies  below,  the  block  of  stone  out  of 
which  the  second  figure  has  been  carved  having  been 
apparently  shaken  by  an  earthquake  from  the  rocks 
above.  This  second  figure  is  a  duplicate  of  the  first. 
Both  stand  in  the  same  position,  both  are  shod  with  the 
same  snow-shoes,  and  both  are  armed  with  spear  and 
bow.  But  the  second  figure  has  suffered  much  from  the 
ill-usage  of  man.  The  upper  part  has  been  purposely 
chipped  away,  and  it  is  not  many  years  ago  since  a 
Yuruk's  tent  was  pitched  against  the  block  of  stone  out 
of  which  it  is  carved,  the  niche  in  which  the  old  warrior 
stands  conveniently  serving  as  the  fire-place  of  the 
family.  No  trace  of  inscription  remains,  if  indeed  it 
ever  existed.  At  any  rate,  it  could  not  have  run  across 
the  breast,  as  Herodotos  asserts. 

The  account,  indeed,  given  by  Herodotos  of  these  two 
figures  can  hardly  have  been  that  of  an  eye-witness. 
Instead  of  being  little  over  three  feet  in  height,  they 
are  more  than  life-size,  and  they  hold  their  spears  not  in 
the  right  but  in  the  left  hand.  Their  accoutrement, 
moreover,  is  as  unlike  that  of  an '  Egyptian  and  Ethiopian ' 
as  it  well  could  be,  while  the  inscription  is  not  traced 
across  the  breast,  but  between  the  face  and  the  arm. 
Nor  was  the  Greek  historian  correct  in  saying  that  the 
pass  which  the  two  warriors  seem  to  guard  leads  not 


THE   PSEUDO-SESOSTRIS,    CARVED   ON   THE   ROCK   IN   THE   PASS   OF    KARABEL. 


THE  HITTITE  MONUMENTS.  69 

only  from  Ephesos  to  Phokaea,  but  also  from  Sardes 
to  Smyrna.  It  is  not  until  the  pass  is  cleared  at  its 
northern  end  that  the  road  which  runs  through  it — the 
Karabel-dM,  as  the  Turks  now  call  it — joins  the  Bel- 
kaive,  or  road  from  Sardes  to  Smyrna.  It  is  evident  that 
Herodotos  must  have  received  his  account  of  the  figures 
from  another  authority,  though  his  identification  of  them 
with  the  Egyptian  Sesostris  is  his  own. 

Not  far  from  Karabel  another  monument  of  Hittite 
art  has  been  discovered.  Hard  by  the  town  of  Magnesia, 
on  the  lofty  cliffs  of  Sipylos,  a  strange  figure  has  been 
carved  out  of  the  rock.  It  represents  a  woman  with 
long  locks  of  hair  streaming  down  her  shoulders,  and 
a  jewel  like  a  lotus-flower  upon  the  head,  who  sits  on 
a  throne  in  a  deep  artificial  niche.  Lydian  historians 
narrate  that  it  was  the  image  of  the  daughter  of  Assaon, 
who  had  sought  death  by  casting  herself  down  from 
a  precipice ;  but  Greek  legend  preferred  to  see  in  it  the 
figure  of  'weeping  Niobe'  turned  to  stone.  Already 
Homer  told  how  Niobe,  when  her  twelve  children  had 
been  slain  by  the  gods,  '  now  changed  to  stone,  broods 
over  the  woes  the  gods  had  brought,  there  among  the 
rocks,  in  lonely  mountains,  even  in  Sipylos,  where  they 
say  are  the  couches  of  the  nymphs  who  dance  on  the 
banks  of  the  Akheloios.'  But  it  was  only  after  the 
settlement  of  the  Greeks  in  Lydia  that  the  old  monu- 
ment on  Mount  Sipylos  was  held  to  be  the  image  of 
Niobe.  The  limestone  rock  out  of  which  it  was  carved 
dripped  with  moisture  after  rain,  and  as  the  water  flowed 
over  the  face  of  the  figure,  disintegrating  and  disfiguring 
the  stone  as  it  ran,  the  pious  Greek  beheld  in  it  the 
Niobe  of  his  own  mythology.  The  figure  was  originally 
that  of  the  great  goddess  of  Asia  Minor,  known  some- 


70  THE  HITT1TES. 

times  as  Atergatis  or  Derketo,  sometimes  as  Kybel£, 
sometimes  by  other  names.  It  is  difficult  for  one  who 
has  seen  the  image  of  Nofert-ari,  the  favourite  wife  of 
Ramses  II.,  seated  in  the  niche  of  rock  on  the  cliffs  of 
Abu-simbel,  not  to  believe  that  the  artist  who  carved 
the  image  on  Mount  Sipylos  had  visited  the  Nile.  At 
a  little  distance  both  have  the  same  appearance,  and  a 
nearer  examination  shows  that,  although  the  Egyptian 
work  is  finer  than  the  Lydian,  it  resembles  it  in  a  striking 
manner.  We  now  know,  however,  that  the  'Niobe'  of 
Sipylos  owes  its  origin  to  Hittite  art.  On  the  wall  of 
rock  out  of  which  the  niche  is  cut  wherein  the  goddess 
sits  Dr.  Dennis  discovered  a  cartouche  containing  Hittite 
characters.  By  tying  some  ladders  together  he  and  I 
succeeded  in  ascending  to  it,  and  taking  paper  impres- 
sions of  the  hieroglyphs.  Among  them  is  a  character 
which  has  the  meaning  of 'king'1. 

How  came  these  characters  and  these  creations  of 
Hittite  art  in  a  region  so  remote  from  that  in  which  the 
Hittite  kingdoms  rose  and  flourished  ?  How  comes  it 
that  we  find  figures  of  Hittite  warriors  in  the  Pass  of 
Karabel  and  on  the  rocks  of  Ghiaur-kalessi,  and  the 
image  of  a  Hittite  goddess  on  the  cliffs  of  Sipylos? 
Whose  was  the  hand  that  engraved  the  characters  that 
accompany  them, — characters  which  are  the  same  as  those 
which  meet  us  on  the  stones  of  Hamath  and  Carchemish? 
We  have  now  to  learn  what  answers  can  be  given  to 
these  questions. 

1  A  copy  of  the  inscription  made  from  the  squeeze  is  given  in  the 
Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archeology,  VII.  Ft.  3,  PL  v.  An 
eye-copy,  made  from  the  ground  by  Dr.  Dennis,  on  the  occasion  of  his 
discovery  of  the  cartouche,  was  published  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  same 
Society  for  January  1881,  and  is  necessarily  imperfect. 


MONUMENT    OF    A    H1TTITE    KING    FOUND    AT    CARCHEMISH. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE   HITTITE   EMPIRE. 

WE  have  seen  that  the  Egyptian  monuments  bear 
witness  to  an  extension  of  Hittite  power  into 
the  distant  regions  of  Asia  Minor.  When  the  kings 
of  Kadesh  contended  with  the  great  Pharaoh  of  the 
Oppression  they  were  able  to  summon  to  their  aid  allies 
from  the  Troad,  as  well  as  from  Lydia  and  the  shores 
of  the  Cilician  sea.  A  century  later  Egypt  was  again 
invaded  by  a  confederacy,  consisting  partly  of  the 
Hittite  rulers  of  Carchemish  and  Aleppo,  partly  of 
Libyans  and  Teukrians,  and  other  populations  of  Asia 
Minor.  If  any  trust  can  be  placed  in  the  identifica- 
tions proposed  by  Egyptian  scholars  for  the  countries 
from  whence  the  vassals  and  allies  of  the  Hittites  came 
it  is  clear  that  memorials  of  Hittite  power  and  conquest 
ought  to  be  found  in  Asia  Minor. 

And  they  were  found  as  soon  as  it  was  recognised 
that  the  curious  monuments  of  Asia  Minor,  of  which  the 
warriors  of  Karabel  and  the  sculptures  of  Ibreez  are 
examples,  were  actually  inspired  by  Hittite  art.  As 
soon  as  it  was  known  that  the  art  these  monuments 
represented,  and  the  peculiar  form  of  writing  which 
accompanied  them,  had  their  earliest  home  in  the 
Syrian  cities  of  the  Hittite  tribes,  a  new  light  broke 
over  the  prehistoric  past  of  Asia  Minor.  These  Hittite 
monuments  can  be  traced  in  two  continuous  lines  from 


74  THE  HITTITES. 

Northern  Syria  and  Kappadokia  to  the  western  ex- 
tremity of  the  peninsula.  They  follow  the  two  highways 
which  once  led  out  of  Asia  to  Sardes  and  the  shores  of 
the  /Egean.  In  the  south  they  form  as  it  were  a  series 
of  stations  at  Ibreez  and  Bulgar  Maden  in  Lykaonia,  at 
Fassiler  and  Tyriaion  between  Ikonion  and  the  Lake 
of  Beyshehr,  and  finally  in  the  Pass  of  Karabel.  North- 
wards the  line  runs  through  the  Taurus  by  Merash, 
and  carries  us  first  to  the  defile  of  Ghurun,  and  then  to 
the  great  Kappadokian  ruins  of  Boghaz  Keui  and 
Eyuk,  from  whence  we  pass  by  Ghiaur-kalessi  and  the 
burial-place  of  the  old  Phrygian  kings,  until  we  again 
reach  the  Lydian  capital  and  the  Pass  of  Karabel. 

Westward  of  the  Halys  and  Kappadokia  they  are 
marked  by  certain  peculiarities.  They  are  found  either 
in  the  vicinity  of  silver  mines,  like  those  of  Lykaonia,  or 
else  on  the  line  of  the  ancient  roads,  which  finally  con- 
verged in  Lydia.  None  have  been  discovered  in  the 
central  plateau  of  Asia  Minor,  in  the  mountains  of 
Lykia  in  the  south,  or  the  wide-reaching  coast-lands  of 
the  north.  They  mark  the  sites  of  small  colonies,  or 
else  the  lines  of  road  that  connected  them.  Moreover, 
with  the  exception  of  the  image  of  the  goddess  who 
sits  on  her  throne  in  Mount  Sipylos,  the  western  monu- 
ments represent  the  figures  of  warriors  who  are  in  the 
act  of  marching  forward.  This  is  the  case  at  Karabel ; 
it  is  also  the  case  at  Ghiaur-kalessi,  where  the  rock  on 
which  the  two  Hittite  warriors  are  carved  lies  close 
below  the  remains  of  a  pre-historic  fortress. 

Such  facts  admit  of  only  one  explanation.  The 
Hittite  monuments  of  Western  Asia  Minor  must  be 
memorials  of  military  conquest  and  supremacy.  In  the 
warriors  whose  figures  stood  on  either  side  of  the  Pass 


THE  HITTITE  EMPIRE.  75 

of  Karabel,  the  sculptor  must  have  seen  the  visible 
symbols  of  Hittite  power.  They  showed  that  the 
Hittite  had  won  and  kept  the  pass  by  force  of  arms. 
They  are  emblems  of  conquest,  not  creations  of  native 
art. 

But  it  was  inevitable  that  conquest  should  bring  with 
it  a  civilising  influence.  The  Hittites  could  not  carry 
with  them  the  art  and  culture  they  had  acquired  in  the 
East  without  influencing  the  barbarous  populations  over 
whom  they  claimed  to  rule.  The  vassal  chieftains  of 
Lydia  and  the  Troad  could  not  lead  their  forces  into 
Syria,  or  assist  in  the  invasion  of  Egypt,  without  learn- 
ing something  of  that  ancient  civilisation  with  which 
they  had  come  in  contact.  The  Hittites,  in  fact,  must 
be  regarded  as  the  first  teachers  of  the  rude  populations 
of  the  West.  They  brought  to  them  a  culture  the  first 
elements  of  which  had  been  inspired  by  Babylonia  ;  they 
brought  also  a  system  of  writing  out  of  which,  in  all 
probability,  the  natives  of  Asia  Minor  afterwards 
developed  a  writing  of  their  own. 

It  is  possible,  therefore,  that  some  of  the  Hittite 
monuments  of  Asia  Minor  are  the  work,  not  of  the 
Hittites  themselves,  but  of  the  native  populations  whom 
they  had  civilised  and  instructed.  It  may  be  that  this 
is  the  case  at  Ibreez,  where  the  faces  of  the  god  and 
his  worshipper  have  Jewish  features  very  unlike  those 
found  on  monuments  of  purely  Hittite  origin.  But 
apart  from  such  instances,  where  the  monument  is  due 
to  Hittite  influence  rather  than  to  Hittite  artists,  it  is 
certain  that  most  of  the  Hittite  memorials  of  Asia 
Minor  are  the  productions  of  the  Hittites  themselves. 
This  is  proved  by  the  hieroglyphs  which  are  attached  to 
them,  as  well  as  by  the  uniform  type  of  feature  and 


76  THE  HITTITES. 

dress  which  prevails  from  Carchemish  to  the  ^Egean. 
It  is  impossible  to  explain  such  an  uniformity,  and  still 
more  the  extraordinary  resemblance  between  the 
characters  engraved  at  Karabel,  or  on  Mount  Sipylosj 
and  those  which  meet  us  in  the  inscriptions  of  Hamath 
and  Carchemish,  except  on  the  supposition  that  the 
monuments  were  executed  by  men  who  belonged  to  the 
same  race  and  spoke  the  same  language.  Wherever 
Hittite  inscriptions  occur,  we  find  in  them  the  same 
combinations  of  hieroglyphs  as  well  as  the  use  of  the 
same  characters  to  denote  grammatical  suffixes. 

We  may,  then,  rest  satisfied  with  the  conclusion  that 
the  existence  of  a  Hittite  empire  extending  into  Asia 
Minor  is  certified,  not  only  by  the  records  of  ancient 
Egypt,  but  also  by  Hittite  monuments  which  still  exist. 
In  the  days  of  Ramses  II.,  when  the  children  of  Israel 
were  groaning  under  the  tasks  allotted  to  them,  the 
enemies  of  their  oppressors  were  already  exercising  a 
power  and  a  domination  which  rivalled  that  of  Egypt. 
The  Egyptian  monarch  soon  learned  to  his  cost  that  the 
Hittite  prince  was  as  'great'  a  king  as  himself,  and 
could  summon  to  his  aid  the  inhabitants  of  the  unknown 
north.  Pharaoh's  claim  to  sovereignty  was  disputed  by 
adversaries  as  powerful  as  the  ruler  of  Egypt,  if  indeed 
not  more  powerful,  and  there  was  always  a  refuge 
among  them  for  those  who  were  oppressed  by  the 
Egyptian  king. 

When,  however,  we  speak  of  a  Hittite  empire  we 
must  understand  clearly  what  that  means.  It  was  not 
an  empire  like  that  of  Rome,  where  the  subject  provinces 
were  consolidated  together  under  a  central  authority, 
obeying  the  same  laws  and  the  same  supreme  head. 
It  was  not  an  empire  like  that  of  the  Persians,  or  of  the 


THE  HITTITE  EMPIRE.  77 

Assyrian  successors  of  Tiglath-pileser  III.,  which  re- 
presented the  organised  union  of  numerous  states  and 
nations  under  a  single  ruler.  Such  a  conception  of 
empire  was  due  to  Tiglath-pileser  III.,  and  his  successor 
Sargon  ;  it  was  a  new  idea  in  the  world,  and  had  never 
been  realised  before.  The  first  Assyrian  empire,  like 
the  foreign  empire  of  Egypt,  was  of  an  altogether 
different  character.  If  depended  on  the  military  enter- 
prise and  strength  of  individual  monarchs.  As  long  as 
the  Assyrian  or  Egyptian  king  could  lead  his  armies 
into  distant  territories,  and  compel  their  inhabitants  to 
pay  him  tribute  and  homage,  his  empire  extended  over 
them.  But  hardly  had  he  returned  home  laden  with 
spoil  than  we  find  the  subject  populations  throwing  off 
their  allegiance  and  asserting  their  independence,  while 
the  death  of  the  conqueror  brought  with  it  almost 
invariably  the  general  uprising  of  the  tribes  and  cities 
his  arms  had  subdued.  Before  the  days  of  Tiglath- 
pileser,  in  fact,  empire  in  Western  Asia  meant  the 
power  of  a  prince  to  force  a  foreign  people  to  submit  to 
his  rule.  The  conquered  provinces  had  to  be  subdued 
again  and  again  ;  but  as  long  as  this  could  be  done,  as 
long  as  the  native  struggles  for  freedom  could  be  crushed 
by  a  campaign,  so  long  did  the  empire  exist. 

It  was  an  empire  of  this  sort  that  the  Hittites  esta- 
blished in  Asia  Minor.  How  long  it  lasted  we  cannot 
say.  But  so  long  as  the  distant  races  of  the  West 
answered  the  summons  to  war  of  the  Hittite  princes, 
it  remained  a  reality.  The  fact  that  the  tribes  of  the 
Troad  and  Lydia  are  found  fighting  under  tne  command 
of  the  Hittite  kings  of  Kadesh,  proves  that  they  acknow- 
ledged the  supremacy  of  their  Hittite  lords,  and  followed 
them  to  battle  like  the  vassals  of  some  feudal  chief. 


78  THE  HITTITES. 

If  Hittite  armies  had  not  marched  to  the  shores  of  the 
^Egean,  and  Hittite  princes  been  able  from  time  to  time 
to  exact  homage  from  the  nations  of  the  far  west, 
Egypt  would  not  have  had  to  contend  against  the 
populations  of  Asia  Minor  in  its  wars  with  the  Hittites, 
and  the  figures  of  Hittite  warriors  would  not  have  been 
sculptured  on  the  rocks  of  Karabel.  There  was  a  time 
when  the  Hittite  name  was  feared  as  far  as  the  western 
extremity  of  Asia  Minor,  and  when  Hittite  satraps  had 
their  seat  in  the  future  capital  of  Lydia. 

Traditions  of  this  period  lingered  on  into  classical 
days.  The  older  dynasty  of  Lydian  kings  traced  its 
descent  from  Bel  and  Ninos,  the  Babylonian  or  Assyrian 
gods,  whose  names  had  been  carried  by  the  Hittites  into 
the  remote  west.  The  Lydian  hero  Kayster,  who  gave 
his  name  to  the  Kaystrian  plain,  was  fabled  to  have 
wandered  into  Syria,  and  there,  after  wooing  Semiramis, 
to  have  been  the  father  of  Derketo,  the  goddess  of 
Carchemish.  A  Lydian  was  even  said  to  have  drowned 
Derketo  in  the  sacred  lake  of  Ashkelon  ;  and  Eusebius 
declares  that  Sardes,  the  Lydian  capital,  was  captured 
for  the  first  time  in  B.C.  1078,  by  a  horde  of  invaders 
from  the  north-western  regions  of  Asia. 

But  it  is  in  the  famous  legend  of  the  Amazons  that 
we  must  look  for  the  chief  evidence  preserved  to  us  by 
classical  antiquity  of  the  influence  once  exercised  by  the 
Hittites  in  Asia  Minor.  The  Amazons  were  imagined 
to  be  a  nation  of  female  warriors,  whose  primitive  home 
lay  in  Kappadokia,  on  the  banks  of  the  Thermodon,  not 
far  from  the  ruins  of  Boghaz  Keui.  From  hence  they 
had  issued  forth  to  conquer  the  people  of  Asia  Minor 
and  to  found  an  empire  which  reached  to  the  ^Egean 
Sea.  The  building  of  many  of  the  most  famous  cities 


THE  HITTITE  EMPIRE.  79 

on  the  ^Egean  coast  was  ascribed  to  them, — Myrina  and 
Kyme,  Smyrna  and  Ephesos,  where  the  worship  of  the 
great  Asiatic  goddess  was  carried  on  with  barbaric  cere- 
monies into  the  later  age  of  civilised  Greece. 

Now  these  Amazons  are  nothing  more  than  the 
priestesses  of  the  Asiatic  goddess,  whose  cult  spread 
from  Carchemish  along  with  the  advance  of  the  Hittite 
armies.  She  was  served  by  a  multitude  of  armed  priest- 
esses and  eunuch  priests  ;  under  her  name  of  Ma,  for 
instance,  no  less  than  six  thousand  of  them  waited  on 
her  at  Komana  in  Kappadokia.  Certain  cities,  in  fact, 
like  Komana  and  Ephesos,  were  dedicated  to  her  service, 
and  a  large  part  of  the  population  accordingly  became 
the  armed  ministers  of  the  mighty  goddess.  Generally 
these  were  women,  as  at  .Ephesos  in  early  days,  where 
they  obeyed  a  high-priestess,  who  called  herself  'the 
queen-bee/  When  Ephesos  passed  into  Greek  hands, 
the  goddess  worshipped  there  was  identified  with  the 
Greek  Artemis,  and  a  high-priest  took  the  place  of  the 
high-priestess.  But  the  priestess  of  Artemis  still  con- 
tinued to  be  called  '  a  bee/  reminding  us  that  Deborah 
or  '  Bee '  was  the  name  of  one  of  the  greatest  of  the 
prophetesses  of  ancient  Israel;  and  the  goddess  herself 
continued  to  be  depicted  under  the  same  form  as  that 
which  had  belonged  to  her  in  Hittite  days.  On  her 
head  was  the  so-called  mural  crown,  the  Hittite  origin 
of  which  has  now  been  placed  beyond  doubt  by  the 
sculptures  of  Boghaz  Keui,  while  her  chariot  was  drawn 
by  lions.  It  was  from  the  Hittites,  too,  that  Artemis 
received  her  sacred  animal,  the  goat. 

The  *  spear-armed  host '  of  the  Amazons,  which  came 
from  Kappadokia,  which  conquered  Asia  Minor,  and  was 
so  closely  connected  with  the  worship  of  the  Ephesian 


80  THE  HITTITES. 

Artemis,  can  be  no  other  than  the  priestesses  of  the 
Hittite  goddess,  who  danced  in  her  honour  armed  with 
the  shield  and  bow.  In  ancient  art  the  Amazons 
are  represented  as  clad  in  the  Hittite  tunic  and  brand- 
ishing the  same  double-headed  axe  that  is  held  in  the 
hands  of  some  of  the  Hittite  deities  on  the  rocks  of 
Boghaz  Keui,  while  the  '  spear '  lent  to  them  by  the 
Greek  poet  brings  to  our  recollection  the  spear  held 
by  the  warriors  of  Karabel.  We  cannot  explain  the  myth 
of  the  Amazons  except  on  the  supposition  that  they 
represented  the  armed  priestesses  of  the  Hittite  goddess, 
and  that  a  tradition  of  the  Hittite  empire  in  Asia  Minor 
has  entwined  itself  around  the  story  of  their  arrival  in 
the  West.  The  cities  they  are  said  to  have  founded 
must  have  been  the  seats  of  Hittite  rule. 

The  Hittites  were  intruders  in  Syria  as  well  as  in 
Western  Asia  Minor.  Everything  points  to  the  con- 
clusion that  they  had  descended  from  the  ranges  of  the 
Taurus.  Their  costume  was  that  of  the  inhabitants  of 
a  cold  and  mountainous  region,  not  of  the  warm  valleys 
of  the  south.  In  place  of  the  trailing  robes  of  the 
Syrians,  the  national  costume  was  a  tunic  which  did 
not  quite  reach  to  the  knees.  It  was  only  after  their 
settlement  in  the  Syrian  cities  that  they  adopted 
the  dress  of  the  country ;  the  sculptured  rocks  of  Asia 
Minor  represent  them  with  the  same  short  tunic  as  that 
which  distinguished  the  Dorians  of  Greece  or  the  ancient 
inhabitants  of  Ararat.  But  the  most  characteristic  por- 
tion of  the  Hittite  garb  were  the  shoes  with  upturned 
ends.  Wherever  the  figure  of  a  Hittite  is  portrayed, 
there  we  find  this  peculiar  form  of  boot.  It  reappears 
among  the  hieroglyphs  of  the  inscriptions,  and  the 
Egyptian  artists  who  adorned  the  walls  of  the  Rames- 


THE  HITTITE   EMPIRE.  8 1 

scum  at  Thebes  have  placed  it  on  the  feet  of  the  Hittite 
defenders  of  Kadesh.  The  boot  is  really  a  snow-shoe, 
admirably  adapted  for  walking  over  snow,  but  ill-suited 
for  the  inhabitants  of  a  level  or  cultivated  country. 
The  fact  that  it  was  still  used  by  the  Hittites  of  Kadesh 
in  the  warm  fertile  valley  of  the  Orontes  proves  better 
than  any  other  argument  that  they  must  have  come 
from  the  snow-clad  mountains  of  the  north.  It  is  like 
the  shoe  of  similar  shape  which  the  Turks  have  carried 
with  them  in  their  migrations  from  the  north  and  intro- 
duced amongst  the  natives  of  Syria  and  Egypt.  It  in- 
dicates with  unerring  certainty  the  northern  origin  of 
the  Turkish  conqueror.  He  stands  in  the  same  relation 
to  the  modern  population  of  Syria  that  the  Hittites 
stood  to  the  Arameans  of  Kadesh  three  thousand  years 
ago. 

Equally  significant  is  the  long  finger-less  glove  which 
is  one  of  the  most  frequent  of  Hittite  hieroglyphs.  The 
thumb  alone  is  detached  from  the  rest  of  the  bag  in 
which  the  fingers  were  enclosed.  Such  a  glove  is  an 
eloquent  witness  to  the  wintry  cold  of  the  regions  from 
which  its  wearers  came,  and  a  similar  glove  is  still  used 
during  the  winter  months  by  the  peasants  of  modern 
Kappadokia. 

We  may  find  another  evidence  of  the  northern  descent 
of  the  Hittite  tribes  in  the  hieroglyph  which  is  used  in 
the  sense  of  '  country.'  It  represents  two,  or  sometimes 
three,  pointed  mountains,  whose  forms,  as  was  remarked 
some  years  ago,  resemble  those  of  the  mountains  about 
Kaisariyeh,  the  Kappadokian  capital. 

If  we  leave  Kadesh  and  proceed  northwards,  the 
local  names  bear  more  and  more  the  peculiar  stamp 
of  a  Hittite  origin.  We  leave  Semitic  names  like 

F 


82  THE  HITTITES. 

Kadesh,  '  the  sanctuary/  behind  us,  and  at  length  find 
ourselves  in  a  district  where  the  geographical  names 
no  longer  admit  of  a  Semitic  etymology.  It  is  just 
this  district,  moreover,  in  which  Hittite  inscriptions 
first  become  plentiful.  The  first  met  with  to  the  south 
are  the  stones  of  Hamath  and  the  lost  inscription  of 
Aleppo  ;  but  from  Carchemish  northwards  we  now  know 
that  numbers  of  them  still  exist.  The  territory  covered 
by  them  is  a  square,  the  base  of  which  is  formed  by 
a  line  running  from  Carchemish  through  Antioch  into 
Lykaonia,  while  the  remains  at  Boghaz  Keui  and  Eyuk 
constitute  its  northern  limit.  We  must  regard  this 
region  as  having  been  the  primeval  home  and  starting- 
point  of  the  Hittite  race.  They  will  have  been  a  popu- 
lation which  clustered  round  the  two  flanks  of  the 
Taurus  range,  extending  far  into  Kappadokia  on  the 
north,  and  towards  Armenia  on  the  east. 

They  preserved  their  independence  on  the  banks  of 
the  Halys  in  Kappadokia  for  nearly  two  hundred 
years  after  the  fall  of  Carchemish.  It  was  not  long 
before  the  overthrow  of  Lydia  by  Cyrus  that  Krcesos, 
the  Lydian  king,  destroyed  the  cities  of  Pteria,  where 
the  ruins  of  Boghaz  Keui  and  Eyuk  now  stand,  and 
enslaved  their  inhabitants,  thus  avenging  upon  them 
the  conquest  of  his  own  country  by  their  ancestors 
so  many  centuries  before.  Herodotos  calls  them 
'  Syrians,'  a  name  which  is  qualified  as  c  White  Syrians ' 
by  the  Greek  geographer  Strabo.  It  was  in  this  way 
that  the  Greek  writer  wished  to  distinguish  them  from 
the  dark-coloured  Syrians  of  Aramean  or  Jewish  birth, 
with  whom  he  was  otherwise  acquainted  ;  and  it  re- 
minds us  that,  whereas  the  Egyptian  artists  painted  the 
Hittites  with  yellow  skins,  they  painted  the  Syrians 


THE  HITTITE  EMPIRE.  85 

with  red.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  memory 
of  their  relationship  to  the  population  on  the  Syrian 
side  of  the  Taurus  should  have  been  preserved  so  long 
among  these  Hittites  of  Kappadokia. 

Boghaz  Keui  and  Eyuk  are  situated  in  the  district 
known  as  Pteria  to  the  Greeks.  At  Eyuk  there  are 
remains  of  a  vast  palace,  which  stood  on  an  artificial 
platform  of  earth,  like  the  palaces  of  Assyria  and 
Babylon.  The  walls  of  the  palace,  formed  of  huge 
blocks  of  cut  stone,  can  still  be  traced  in  many  places. 
It  was  approached  by  an  avenue  of  sculptured  slabs, 
on  which  lions  were  represented,  some  of  them  in  the 
act  of  devouring  a  ram.  The  head  and  attitude  of 
one  that  is  preserved  remind  us  of  the  avenue  of  ram- 
headed  sphinxes  which  led  to  the  temple  of  Karnak 
at  Thebes.  The  entrance  of  the  palace  was  flanked 
on  either  side  by  two  enormous  monoliths  of  granite, 
on  the  external  faces  of  which  were  carved  in  relief  the 
images  of  a  sphinx.  But  though  the  artist  had  clearly 
gone  to  Egypt  for  his  model,  it  is  also  clear  that  he 
had  modified  the  forms  he  imitated  in  accordance  with 
national  ideas.  The  head-dress,  like  the  feet,  of  the 
sphinxes  is  non-Egyptian,  the  necklace  passes  under 
the  chin  instead  of  falling  across  the  breast,  and  the 
sphinx  itself  is  erect,  not  recumbent,  as  in  Egypt.  On 
the  right  hand  the  same  block  of  stone  which  bears 
the  figure  of  the  sphinx  bears  also,  on  the  inner  side, 
the  figure  of  a  double-headed  eagle,  with  an  animal 
which  Professor  Perrot  believes  to  be  a  hare  in  either 
talon,  and  a  man  standing  upon  its  twofold  head. 
The  same  double-headed  eagle,  supporting  the  figure 
of  a  man  or  a  god,  is  met  with  at  Boghaz  Keui,  and 
must  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  peculiarities  of  Hittite 


86  THE  HITTITES. 

symbolism  and  art.  The  symbol  was  adopted  in  later 
days  by  the  Turkoman  princes,  who  had  perhaps  first 
seen  it  on  the  Hittite  monuments  of  Kappodokia ;  and 
the  Crusaders  brought  it  to  Europe  with  them  in  the 
1 4th  century.  Here  it  became  the  emblem  of  the 
German  Emperors,  who  have  passed  it  on  to  the  modern 
kingdoms  of  Russia  and  Austria.  It  is  not  the  only  heir- 
loom of  Hittite  art  which  has  descended  to  us  of  to-day. 
The  lintel  of  the  palace  gate  at  Eyuk  was  of  solid 
stone,  and,  if  Professor  Perrot  is  right,  the  huge  stone 
lintel,  adorned  with  a  lion's  head,  still  lies  in  fragments 
on  the  ground.  The  entrance  was  flanked  with  walls 
on  which  bas-reliefs  were  carved,  as  in  the  palaces  which 
were  built  by  the  kings  of  Assyria.  They  formed,  in 
fact,  a  dado,  the  rest  of  the  wall  above  them  being 
probably  of  brick  covered  with  stucco  and  painted  with 
bright  colours.  Many  of  the  sculptured  blocks  still  lie 
scattered  on  the  ground.  Here  we  have  the  picture  of 
a  priest  before  an  altar,  there  of  a  sacred  bull  mounted 
on  a  pedestal.  Hard  by  is  the  likeness  of  two  men, 
one  of  whom  carries  a  lyre,  the  other  a  goat  ;  while  on 
another  stone  a  man  is  represented  with  little  regard 
to  perspective  in  the  act  of  climbing  a  ladder.  Another, 
relief  introduces  to  us  three  rams  and  a  goat  whose 
horn  is  grasped  by  a  shepherd  ;  elsewhere  again  we 
see  a  goddess  seated  in  a  chair  of  peculiar  construction, 
with  her  feet  upon  a  stool  and  objects  like  flowers  in 
her  hand.  A  similar  piece  of  sculpture  has  been  found 
at  Merash,  on  the  southern  side  of  the  Taurus,  within 
the  limits  of  the  ancient  Komagene,  even  such  details 
as  the  form  of  the  chair  and  stool  being  alike  in  the 
two  cases.  The  two  reliefs  might  have  been  executed 
by  the  same  hand. 


THE  HITTITE    EMPIRE.  87 

The  sphinxes  which  guarded  the  entrance  of  the 
palace  of  Eyuk  and  the  avenue  which  led  up  to  them 
bear  unmistakable  testimony  to  the  influence  of  Egyptian 
art  upon  its  builders.  They  take  us  back  to  a  period 
when  the  Hittites  of  Kappadokia  were  in  contact  with 
the  people  of  the  Nile,  and  thus  confirm  the  evidence 
of  the  Egyptian  records.  There  must  have  been  a 
time  when  the  population  of  distant  Kappadokia  held 
intercourse  with  that  of  Egypt,  and  this  time,  as  we 
learn  from  the  Egyptian  monuments,  was  the  age  of 
Ramses  II.  It  is  perhaps  not  going  too  far  to  assume 
that  the  palace  of  Eyuk  was  erected  in  the  I3th  century 
before  our  era,  and  is  a  relic  of  the  period  when  the 
sway  of  the  Hittite  princes  of  Kadesh  or  Carchemish 
extended  as  far  north  as  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
Halys.  It  is  indeed  possible  that  the  palace  was 
originally  the  summer  residence  of  the  kings  whose 
homes  were  in  the  south.  The  plateau  on  which  Eyuk 
and  Boghaz  Keui  stand  is  more  than  3000  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea,  and  the  winters  there  are  in- 
tensely cold.  From  December  onwards  the  ground 
is  piled  high  with  snow.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
descendants  of  races  which  have  originally  come  from 
a  cold  climate  endure  the  heats  of  a  southern  summer 
with  impatience ;  and  the  same  causes  which  make  the 
English  rulers  of  India  to-day  retire  during  the  summer 
to  the  mountain  heights,  may  have  made  the  Hittite 
lords  of  Syria  build  their  summer  palace  in  the  Kap- 
padokian  highlands. 

The  sculptures  of  Boghaz  Keui  belong  to  a  some- 
what later  date  than  those  of  Eyuk.  Boghaz  Keui  is 
five  hours  to  the  south-west  of  Eyuk,  and  marks  the 
site  of  a  once  populous  town.  A  stream  that  runs  past 


88 


THE  HITTITES. 


it  separates  the  ruins  of  the  city  from  a  remarkable 
series  of  sculptures  carved  on  the  rocks  of  the  mountains 
which  overlooked  the  city.  The  city  was  surrounded 


SCULPTURES   AT   BOGHA2    KE'JI. 


by  a  massive  wall  of  masonry,  and  within  it  were  two 
citadels  solidly  built  on  the  summits  of  two  shafts  of 


THE  HITTITE  EMPIRE.  89 

rock.  The  wall  was  without  towers,  but  at  its  foot 
ran  a  moat  cut  partly  through  the  rock,  partly  through 
the  earth,  the  earth  being  coated  with  a  smooth  and 
slippery  covering  of  masonry.  The  most  important 
building  in  the  city  was  the  palace,  a  plan  of  which 
has  been  made  by  modern  travellers.  Like  the  palace 
of  Eyuk,  it  was  erected  on  an  artificial  mound  or  terrace 
of  earth,  and  its  ornamentation  seems  to  have  been 
similar  to  that  of  Eyuk.  But  little  is  left  of  it  save 
the  foundations  of  the  walls  and  the  overturned  throne 
of  stone  which  once  stood  in  the  central  court  sup- 
ported on  the  bodies  of  two  lions.  Lions'  heads  were 
also  carved  on  the  columns  which  formed  the  door- 
posts of  the  city-gate. 

The  interest  of  Boghaz  Keui  centres  in  the  sculptures 
which  have  been  carved  with  so  much  care  on  the  rocky 
walls  of  the  mountains.  Here  advantage  has  been  taken 
of  two  narrow  recesses,  the  sides  and  floors  of  which 
have  been  artificially  shaped  and  levelled.  The  first 
and  largest  recess  may  be  described  as  of  rectangular 
shape.  Along  either  side  of  it,  as  along  the  dado  of 
a  room,  run  two  long  lines  of  figures  in  relief,  which 
eventually  meet  at  the  end  opposite  the  entrance.  On 
the  left-hand  side  we  see  a  line  of  men,  almost  all  clad 
alike  in  the  short  tunic,  peaked  tiara,  and  boots  with 
upturned  ends  that  characterise  Hittite  art.  At  times, 
however,  they  are  interrupted  by  other  figures  in  the 
long  Syrian  robe,  who  may  perhaps  be  intended  for 
women.  Among  them  are  two  dwarf-like  creatures 
upholding  the  crescent  disk  of  the  moon,  and  after  a 
while  the  procession  becomes  that  of  a  number  of  deities, 
each  with  his  name  written  in  Hittite  hieroglyphs  at 
his  side.  After  turning  the  corner  of  the  recess,  the 


90  THE  HITTITES. 

procession  consists  of  three  gods,  two  of  whom  stand  on 
mountain-peaks,  while  the  foremost  (with  a  goat  beside 
him)  is  supported  on  the  heads  of  two  adoring  priests. 
Facing  him  is  the  foremost  figure  of  the  other  procession, 
which  starts  from  the  eastern  side  of  the  recess,  and 
finally  meets  the  first  on  its  northern  wall.  This  figure 
is  that  of  the  great  Asiatic  goddess,  who  wears  on  her 
head  the  mural  crown  and  stands  upon  a  panther,  while 
beside  her,  as  beside  the  god  she  is  greeting,  is  the 
portraiture  of  a  goat.  Behind  her  a  youthful  god,  with 
the  double-headed  battle-axe  in  his  hand,  stands  upon 
a  panther,  and  behind  him  again  are  two  priestesses 
with  mural  crowns,  whose  feet  rest  upon  the  heads  and 
wings  of  a  double-headed  eagle.  This  eagle,  whose 
form  is  but  a  reproduction  of  that  sculptured  at  Eyuk, 
closes  the  series  of  designs  represented  on  the  northern 
wall.  The  eastern  wall  is  occupied  with  a  long  line, 
first  of  goddesses  and  then  of  priestesses.  Where  the 
line  breaks  off  at  last  we  come  upon  a  solitary  piece 
of  sculpture.  This  is  the  image  of  an  eunuch-priest, 
who  stands  on  a  mountain  and  holds  in  one  hand  a 
curved  augural  wand,  in  the  other  a  strange  symbol 
representing  a  priest  with  embroidered  robes,  who  stands 
upon  a  shoe  with  upturned  ends,  and  supports  a  winged 
solar  disk,  the  two  extremities  of  which  rest  upon 
baseless  columns. 

The  entrance  to  the  second  recess  is  guarded  on  either 
side  by  two  winged  monsters,  with  human  bodies  and 
the  heads  of  dogs.  It  leads  into  an  artificially  exca- 
vated passage  of  rectangular  shape,  on  the  rocky  walls 
of  which  detached  groups  of  figures  and  emblems  are 
engraved.  On  the  western  wall  is  a  row  of  twelve 
priests  or  soldiers,  each  of  whom  bears  a  scythe  upon 


THE  HITTITE  EMPIRE.  93 

his  shoulder  ;  facing  them  on  the  eastern  wall  are  two 
reliefs  of  strange  character.  One  of  them  depicts  the 
youthful  god,  whose  name  perhaps  was  Attys,  embracing 
with  his  left  arm  the  eunuch-priest,  above  whose  head 
is  engraved  the  strange  symbol  that  has  been  already 
described.  The  other  represents  a  god's  head  crowned 
with  the  peaked  tiara,  and  supported  on  a  double-headed 
lion,  which  again  stands  on  the  hinder  feet  of  two  other 
lions,  whose  heads  rest  on  a  column  or  stem.  All  these 
sculptures  were  once  covered  with  stucco,  and  thus 
preserved  from  the  action  of  the  weather. 

It  is  evident  that  in  these  two  mountain  recesses  we 
have  a  sanctuary,  the  forms  and  symbols  of  whose 
deities  were  sculptured  on  its  walls  of  living  rock.  It 
was  a  sanctuary  too  holy  to  be  confined  within  the 
walls  of  the  city,  and  the  supreme  deities  to  whom  it 
was  dedicated  were  a  god  and  a  goddess,  served  by 
a  multitude  of  male  and  female  priests.  In  fact,  as 
Prof.  Perrot  remarks,  Boghaz  Keui  must  have  been 
a  sacred  city  like  Komana,  whose  citizens  were  con- 
secrated to  the  chief  divinities  adored  by  the  Hittites, 
and  were  governed  by  a  high-priest.  It  was  as  much 
a  '  Kadesh '  or  c  Hierapolis,'  as  much  a  'holy  city,5  as 
Carchemish  itself. 

It  is  not  its  sculptures  only  which  prove  to  us  that 
it  was  a  city  of  the  Hittites.  The  figures  of  the  deities 
have  attached  to  them,  as  at  Eyuk,  the  same  hiero- 
glyphs as  those  which  meet  us  in  the  inscriptions  of 
Hamath  and  Aleppo,  of  Carchemish  and  Merash,  and 
within  its  walls,  southward  of  the  ruins  of  its  palace, 
Prof.  Perrot  discovered  a  long  text  of  nine  or  ten  lines 
cut  out  of  the  rock,  and  though  worn  and  disfigured 
by  time  and  weather,  still  showing  the  forms  of  many 


94  THE  HIT7ITES. 

Hittite  characters.  So  far  as  can  be  judged  from  a 
photograph  of  it  he  has  published,  the  forms  are  the 
same  as  those  which  are  found  on  the  Hittite  monu- 
ments of  Syria. 

Tedious  as  all  these  details  may  seem  to  be,  it  has 
been  necessary  to  give  them,  since  they,  tell  us  what 
was  the  appearance  and  construction  of  a  Hittite  city, 
a  Hittite  palace,  and  the  interior  of  a  Hittite  temple. 
The  discoveries  recently  made  in  the  Hittite  districts 
south  of  the  Taurus,  show  us  that  here  too  the  palaces 
and  temples  were  like  those  of  Eyuk  and  Boghaz  Keui. 
Here  too  we  find  the  same  dados  sculptured  with  the 
same  figures  dressed  in  the  same  costume  ;  here  too 
we  meet  with  the  same  lions,  and  the  same  winged 
deities  standing  on  the  backs  of  animals.  A  photograph 
of  a  piece  of  sculpture  on  a  block  of  basalt  at  Car- 
chemish,  taken  by  Dr.  Gwyther,  might  have  been  taken 
at  Boghaz  Keui.  The  art,  the  forms,  and  the  symbolism 
are  all  the  same. 

The  high-road  from  Boghaz  Keui  to  Merash  must 
have  passed  through  the  defile  of  Ghurun,  where  Sir 
Charles  Wilson  discovered  Hittite  inscriptions  carved 
upon  the  cliff.  But  there  may  have  been  a  second  road 
which  led  through  Kaisariyeh,  the  modern  capital  of 
Kappadokia,  southward  to  Bor  or  Tyana,  where  Prof. 
Ramsay  found  a  Hittite  text,  and  from  thence  to  the 
silver  mines  of  the  Bulgar  Dagh.  The  bas-reliefs  of 
Ibreez  are  not  far  distant  from  the  famous  Cilician 
gates  which  led  the  traveller  from  the  great  central 
plateau  of  Asia  Minor  to  Tarsus  and  the  sea. 

It  would  seem  that  the  silver  mines  of  the  Bulgar 
Dagh  were  first  worked  by  Hittite  miners.  Silver  had 
a  special  attraction  for  the  Hittite  race.  The  material 


THE  HITTITE  EMPIRE.  95 

on  which  the  Hittite  version  of  the  treaty  between 
the  Hittite  king  of  Kadesh  and  the  Egyptian  Pharaoh 
was  written  was  a  tablet  of  that  metal.  That  such 
tablets  were  in  frequent  use,  results  from  the  fact  that 
nearly  all  the  Hittite  inscriptions  known  to  us  are 
not  incised,  but  cut  in  relief  upon  the  stone.  It  is 
therefore  obvious  that  the  Hittites  must  have  first 
inscribed  their  hieroglyphs  upon  metal,  rather  than  upon 
wood  or  stone  or  clay ;  it  is  only  in  the  case  of  metal 
that  it  is  less  laborious  to  hammer  or  cast  in  relief  than 
to  cut  the  metal  with  a  graving  tool,  and  nothing  can 
prove  more  clearly  how  long  accustomed  the  Hittite 
scribes  must  have  been  to  doing  so,  than  their  imitation 
of  this  work  in  relief  when  they  came  to  write  upon 
stone.  It  is  possible  that  most  of  the  silver  of  which 
they  made  use  came  from  the  Bulgar  Dagh.  The 
Hittite  inscription  found  near  the  old  mines  of  these 
mountains  by  Mr.  Davis,  proves  that  they  had  once 
occupied  the  locality.  It  is  even  possible  that  their 
settlement  for  a  time  in  Lydia  was  also  connected  with 
their  passion  for  'the  bright  metal.'  At  all  events  the 
Gumush  Dagh,  or  '  Silver  Mountains/  lie  to  the  south 
of  the  Pass  of  Karabel,  and  traces  of  old  workings  can 
still  be  detected  in  them. 

However  this  may  be,  the  Hittite  monuments  of  Asia 
Minor  confirm  in  a  striking  way  the  evidence  of  the 
Egyptian  inscriptions.  They  show  us  that  the  Hittites 
worked  for  silver  in  the  mountains  which  looked  down 
upon  the  Cilician  plain,  from  whence  the  influence  of 
their  art  and  writing  extended  into  the  plain  itself. 
They  further  show  that  the  central  point  of  Hittite 
power  was  a  square  on  either  side  of  the  Taurus  range, 
which  included  Carchemish  and  Komagene  in  the  south, 


9  6  THE   HITTITES. 

the  district  eastwards  of  the  Halys  on  the  north,  and 
the  country  of  which  Malatiyeh  was  the  capital  in  the 
east.  The  Hittite  tribes,  in  fact,  were  mountaineers 
from  the  plateau  of  Kappadokia  who  had  spread  them- 
selves out  in  all  directions.  A  time  came  when,  under 
the  leadership  of  powerful  princes,  they  marched  along 
the  two  high-roads  of  Asia  Minor  and  established  their 
supremacy  over  the  coast-tribes  of  the  far  west.  The 
age  to  which  this  military  empire  belongs  is  indicated 
by  the  Egyptian  character  of  the  so-called  image  of 
Niobe  on  the  cliff  of  Sipylos,  as  well  as  by  the  sphinxes 
which  guarded  the  entrance  to  the  palace  of  Eyuk.  It 
goes  back  to  the  days  when  the  rulers  of  Kadesh  could 
summon  to  their  aid  the  vassal-chieftains  of  the  ./Egean 
coast.  The  monuments  the  Hittites  have  left  behind 
them  in  Asia  Minor  thus  bear  the  same  testimony  as 
the  records  of  Egypt.  The  people  to  whom  Uriah,  and 
it  may  be  Bath-sheba,  belonged,  not  only  had  contended 
on  equal  terms  with  one  of  the  greatest  of  Egyptian 
kings ;  they  had  carried  their  arms  through  the  whole 
length  of  Asia  Minor,  they  had  set  up  satraps  in  the 
cities  of  Lydia,  and  had  brought  the  civilisation  of  the 
East  to  the  barbarous  tribes  of  the  distant  West 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE   HITTITE   CITIES   AND   RACE. 

OF  the  history  of  the  '  White  Syrians '  or  Hittites  who 
lived  in  the  land  of  Pteria,  near  the  Halys,  we  know 
nothing  at  present  beyond  what  we  can  gather  from  the 
ruins  of  their  stronghold  at  Boghaz  Keui  and  their 
palace  at  Eyuk.  The  same  is  the  case  with  the  Hittite 
tribes  of  Malatiyeh  and  Komagene.  When  the  inscrip- 
tion which  adorns  the  body  of  a  stone  lion  found  at 
Merash  can  be  deciphered,  it  will  doubtless  cast  light  on 
the  early  history  of  the  city  ;  at  present  we  do  not  know 
even  its  ancient  name.  It  is  not  until  we  leave  the 
mountainous  region  originally  occupied  by  the  Hittite 
race,  and  descend  into  the  valleys  of  Syria,  that  the  annals 
of  their  neighbours  begin  to  tell  us  something  about 
their  fortunes  and  achievements.  The  history  of  their 
two  southern  capitals,  Carchemish  and  Kadesh,  broken 
and  imperfect  though  it  may  be,  is  not  an  utter  blank. 

The  site  of  Carchemish  had  long  been  looked  for  in 
vain.  At  one  time  it  was  identified  with  the  Kirkesion  or 
Circesium  of  classical  geography,  built  at  the  confluence 
of  the  Khabour  and  the  Euphrates.  But  the  Assyrian 
name  of  Kirkesion  was  Sirki,  and  its  position  did  not 
agree  with  that  assigned  to  '  Gargamis J  or  Carchemish 
in  the  Assyrian  texts.  Professor  Maspero  subsequently 
placed  the  latter  at  Membij,  the  ancient  Mabog  or 
Hierapolis,  on  the  strength  of  the  evidence  furnished  by 

G 


98  THE  HITTITES. 

classical  authors  and  the  Egyptian  monuments;  but  the 
ruins  of  Membij  contain  nothing  earlier  than  the  Greek 
period,  and  their  position  on  a  rocky  plateau  at  a  dis- 
tance from  the  Euphrates,  is  inconsistent  with  the  fact 
known  to  us  from  the  Assyrian  inscriptions,  that  Car- 
chemish  commanded  the  fords  over  the  Euphrates. 

To  Mr.  Skene,  for  many  years  the  English  consul  at 
Aleppo,  is  due  the  credit  of  first  discovering  the  true 
site  of  the  old  Hittite  capital.  On  the  western  bank  of 
the  Euphrates,  midway  between  Birejik  and  the  mouth 
of  the  Sajur,  rises  an  artificial  mound  of  earth,  under 
which  ruins  and  sculptured  blocks  of  stone  had  been 
found  from  time  to  time.  It  was  known  as  Jerablus, 
or  Kalaat  Jerablus,  *  the  fortress  of  Jerablus/  sometimes 
wrongly  written  Jerabis ;  and  in  the  name  of  Jerablus  Mr. 
Skene  had  no  difficulty  in  recognising  an  Arab  corruption 
of  Hierapolis.  In  the  Roman  age  the  name  of  Hierapolis 
or  (  Holy  City '  had  been  transferred  to  its  neighbour 
Membij,  which  inherited  the  traditions  and  religious 
fame  of  the  older  Carchemish;  but  when  the  triumph  of 
Christianity  in  Syria  brought  with  it  the  fall  of  the 
great  temple  of  Membij,  the  name  disappeared  from  the 
later  city,  and  was  remembered  only  in  connection  with 
the  ruins  of  the  ancient  Carchemish. 

Two  years  after  Mr.  Skene's  discovery,  Mr.  George 
Smith  visited  Carchemish  on  his  last  ill-fated  journey 
from  which  he  never  returned,  and  recognised  at  once 
that  Mr.  Skene's  identification  was  right.  The  position 
of  Jerablus  suited  the  requirements  of  the  Assyrian  texts, 
it  lay  on  the  high-road  which  formerly  led  from  east  to 
west,  and  among  its  ruins  was  an  inscription  in  Hittite 
characters.  Not  long  afterwards  there  were  brought  to 
the  British  Museum  the  bronze  bands  which  once  adorned 


THE  HITTITE    CITIES  AND  RACE.  99 

the  gates  of  an  Assyrian  temple,  and  on  one  of  these  is 
a  picture  in  relief  of  Carchemish  as  it  looked  in  the  days 
of  Jehu  of  Israel.  The  Euphrates  is  represented  as 
running  past  its  walls,  thus  conclusively  showing  that 
Jerablus,  and  not  Membij,  must  be  the  site  on  which  it 
stood. 

The  site  was  boughi  by  Mr.  Henderson,  Mr.  Skene's 
successor  at  Aleppo,  and  the  money  was  invested  by 
the  former  owner  in  the  purchase  of  a  cow.  The  mighty 
were  fallen  indeed,  when  the  Hittite  capital  which  had 
resisted  the  armies  of  Egypt  and  Assyria  was  judged 
to  be  worth  no  more  than  the  price  of  a  beast  of  the 
field.  In  1878  Mr.  Henderson  was  employed  by  the 
Trustees  of  the  British  Museum  in  excavating  on  the 
spot ;  but  no  sufficient  supervision  was  exercised  over 
the  workmen,  and  though  a  few  remains  of  Hittite 
sculpture  and  writing  found  their  way  to  London,  much 
was  left  to  be  burned  into  lime  by  the  natives  or  em- 
ployed in  the  construction  of  a  mill. 

The  ancient  city  was  defended  on  two  sides  by  the 
Euphrates,  and  was  exposed  only  on  the  north  and 
west.  Here,  however,  an  artificial  canal  had  been  cut, 
on  either  side  of  which  was  a  fortified  wall.  The  mound 
which  had  first  attracted  Mr.  Skene's  attention  marks 
the  site  of  the  royal  palace,  where  the  excavators  found 
the  remains  of  a  dado  like  that  of  Eyuk,  the  face  of  the 
stones  having  been  sculptured  into  the  likeness  of  gods 
and  men.  The  men  were  shod  with  boots  with  up- 
turned ends,  that  unfailing  characteristic  of  Hittite  art. 

Carchemish  enjoyed  a  long  history.  When  first  we 
hear  of  it  in  the  Egyptian  records  it  was  already  in 
Hittite  hands.  Thothmes  III.  fought  beneath  its  walls, 
and  his  bravest  warriors  plunged  into  the  Euphrates  in 

G  2 


100  THE   HITTITES. 

their  eagerness  to  capture  the  foe.  Tiglath-pileser  L 
had  seen  its  walls  from  the  opposite  shore  of  the  Eu- 
phrates, but  had  not  ventured  to  approach  them.  Assur- 
natsir-pal  and  his  son  Shalmaneser  had  received  tribute 
from  its  king,  and  when  it  finally  surrendered  to  the 
armies  of  Sargon  it  was  made  the  seat  of  an  Assyrian 
satrap.  The  trade  which  had  flowed  through  it  con- 
tinued to  pour  wealth  into  the  hands  of  its  merchants, 
and  the  '  maneh  of  Carchemish '  remained  a  standard  of 
value.  When  Egypt  made  her  final  struggle  for  su- 
premacy in  Asia,  it  was  under  the  walls  of  Carchemish 
that  the  decisive  struggle  was  fought.  The  battle  of 
Carchemish  in  B.C.  604  drove  Necho  out  of  Syria  and 
Palestine,  and  placed  the  destinies  of  the  chosen  people 
in  the  hands  of  the  Babylonian  king.  It  is  possible 
that  the  ruin  of  Carchemish  dates  from  the  battle. 
However  that  may  be,  long  before  the  beginning  of  the 
Christian  era  it  had  been  supplanted  by  Mabog  or 
Membij,  and  the  great  sanctuary  which  had  made  it  a 
'  holy  city '  was  transferred  to  its  rival  and  successor. 

Like  Carchemish,  Kadesh  on  the  Orontes,  the  most 
southern  capital  the  Hittites  possessed,  was  also  a  '  holy 
city.'  Pictures  of  it  have  been  preserved  on  the  monu- 
ments of  Ramses  II.  We  gather  from  them  that  it 
stood  on  the  shore  of  the  Lake  of  Horns,  still  called  the 
'  Lake  of  Kadesh,'  at  the  point  where  the  Orontes  flowed 
out  of  the  lake.  The  river  was  conducted  round  the 
city  in  a  double  channel,  across  which  a  wide  bridge 
was  thrown,  the  space  between  the  two  channels  being 
apparently  occupied  by  a  wall. 

Kadesh  must  have  been  one  of  the  last  conquests 
made  by  the  Hittites  in  Syria,  and  their  retention  of  it 
was  the  visible  sign  of  their  supremacy  over  Western 


THE  HITTITE    CITIES,  AND,  RACE.  1C! 

Asia.  We  do  not  know  when  they  were  forced  to  yield 
up  its  possession  to  others.  As  has  been  pointed  out, 
the  correct  reading  of  2  Sam.  xxiv.  6  informs  us  that 
the  northern  limit  of  the  kingdom  of  David  was  formed 
by  '  the  Hittites  of  Kadesh/  '  the  entering  in  of  Hamath,' 
as  it  seems  to  be  called  elsewhere.  In  the  age  of  David, 
accordingly,  Kadesh  must  still  have  been  in  their  hands, 
but  it  had  already  ceased  to  be  so  when  the  Assyrian 
king  Shalmaneser  III.  led  his  armies  to  the  west.  No 
allusion  to  the  city  and  its  inhabitants  occurs  in  the 
Assyrian  inscriptions,  and  we  may  conjecture  that  it 
had  been  destroyed  by  the  Syrians  of  Damascus.  As 
Membij  took  the  place  of  Carchemish,  so  Emesa  or 
Horns  took  the  place  of  Kadesh. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Hittites  were  a  northern  race. 
Their  primitive  home  probably  lay  on  the  northern  side 
of  the  Taurus.  What  they  were  like  we  can  learn  both 
from  their  own  sculptures  and  from  the  Egyptian  monu- 
ments, which  agree  most  remarkably  in  the  delineation 
of  their  features.  The  extraordinary  resemblance  be- 
tween the  Hittite  faces  drawn  by  the  Egyptian  artists 
and  those  depicted  by  themselves  in  their  bas-reliefs 
and  their  hieroglyphs,  is  a  convincing  proof  of  the  faith- 
fulness of  the  Egyptian  representations,  as  well  as  of 
the  identity  of  the  Hittites  of  the  Egyptian  inscriptions 
with  the  Hittites  of  Carchemish  and  Kappadokia. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  they  were  not  a  handsome 
people.  They  were  short  and  thick  of  limb,  and  the 
front  part  of  their  faces  was  pushed  forward  in  a  curious 
and  somewhat  repulsive  way.  The  forehead  retreated, 
the  cheek-bones  were  high,  the  nostrils  were  large,  the 
upper  lip  protrusive.  They  had,  in  fact,  according  to 
the  craniologists,  the  characteristics  of  a  Mongoloid  race. 


lOfc  TH'E  HITTITES. 

Like  the  Mongols,  moreover,  their  skins  were  yellow 
and  their  eyes  and  hair  were  black.  They  arranged  the 
hair  in  the  form  of  a  '  pig-tail/  which  characterises  them 
on  their  own  and  the  Egyptian  monuments  quite  as 
much  as  their  snow-shoes  with  upturned  toes. 

In  Syria  they  doubtless  mixed  with  the  Semitic  race, 
and  the  further  south  they  advanced  the  more  likely 
they  were  to  become  absorbed  into  the  native  popula- 
tion. The  Hittites  of  Southern  Judah  have  Semitic 
names,  and  probably  spoke  a  Semitic  language.  Kadesh 
continued  to  bear  to  the  last  its  Semitic  title,  and  among 
the  Hittite  names  which  occur  further  north  there  are 
several  which  display  a  Semitic  stamp.  In  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Carchemish  Hittites  and  Arameans  were 
mingled  together,  and  Pethor  was  at  once  a  Hittite 
and  an  Aramean  town.  In  short,  the  Hittites  in  Syria 
were  like  a  conquering  race  everywhere ;  they  formed 
merely  the  governing  and  upper  class,  which  became 
smaller  and  smaller  the  further  removed  they  were  from 
their  original  seats.  Like  the  Normans  in  Sicily  or  the 
Etruscans  in  ancient  Italy,  they  tended  gradually  to 
disappear  or  else  to  be  absorbed  into  the  subject  race. 
It  was  only  in  their  primitive  homes  that  they  survived 
in  their  original  strength  and  purity,  and  though  even 
in  Kappadokia  they  lost  their  old  languages,  adopting 
in  place  of  them  first  Aramaic,  then  Greek,  and  lastly 
Turkish,  we  may  still  observe  their  features  and  char- 
acteristics in  the  modern  inhabitants  of  the  Taurus 
range.  Even  in  certain  districts  of  Kappadokia  their 
descendants  may  still  be  met  with.  *  The  type/  says 
Sir  Charles  Wilson,  '  which  is  not  a  beautiful  one,  is  still 
found  in  some  parts  of  Kappadokia,  especially  amongst 
the  people  living  in  the  extraordinary  subterranean 


THE   HITTITE    CITIES  AND   RACE.  103 

towns  which  I  discovered  beneath  the  great  plain  north- 
west of  Nigdeh.'  The  characteristics  of  race,  when  once 
acquired,  seem  almost  indelible  ;  and  it  is  possible  that, 
when  careful  observations  can  be  made,  it  will  be  found 
that  the  ancient  Hittite  race  still  survives,  not  only  in 
Eastern  Asia  Minor,  but  even  in  the  southern  regions 
of  Palestine. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

HITTITE   RELIGION   AND   ART. 

LUC  I  AN,  or  some  other  Greek  writer  who  has  usurped 
his  name,  has  left  us  a  minute  account  of  the  great 
temple  of  Mabog  as  it  existed  in  the  second  century 
of  the  Christian  era.  Mabog,  as  we  have  seen,  was  the 
successor  of  Carchemish ;  and  there  is  little  reason  to 
doubt  that  the  pagan  temple  of  Mabog,  with  all  the 
rites  and  ceremonies  that  were  carried  on  in  it,  differed 
but  little  from  the  pagan  temple  of  the  older  Carche- 
mish. 

It  stood,  we  are  told,  in  the  very  centre  of  the  *  Holy 
City.'  It  consisted  of  an  outer  court  and  an  inner 
sanctuary,  which  again  contained  a  Holy  of  Holies, 
entered  only  by  the  high-priest  and  those  of  his  com- 
panions who  were  '  nearest  the  gods/  The  temple  was 
erected  on  an  artificial  mound  or  platform,  more  than 
twelve  feet  in  height,  and  its  walls  and  ceiling  within 
were  brilliant  with  gold.  Its  doors  were  also  gilded, 
but  the  Holy  of  Holies  or  innermost  shrine  was  not 
provided  with  doors,  being  separated  from  the  rest  of 
the  building,  it  would  seem,  like  the  Holy  of  Holies  in 
the  Jewish  temple,  by  a  curtain  or  veil.  On  either  side 
of  the  entrance  was  a  cone-like  column  of  great  height, 
a  symbol  of  the  goddess  of  fertility,  and  in  the  outer 
court  a  large  altar  of  brass.  To  the  left  of  the  latter 
was  an  image  of  '  Semiramis/  and  not  far  off  a  great 


HITTITE  RELIGION  AND   ART.  105 

*  sea '  or  '  lake,'  containing  sacred  fish.  Oxen,  horses, 
eagles,  bears,  and  lions  were  kept  in  the  court,  as  being 
sacred  to  the  deities  worshipped  within. 

On  entering  the  temple  the  visitor  saw  on  his  left  the 
throne  of  the  Sun-god,  but  no  image,  since  the  Sun  and 
Moon  alone  of  the  gods  had  no  images  dedicated  to 
them.  Beyond,  however,  were  the  statues  of  various 
divinities,  among  others  the  wonder-working  image  of 
a  god  who  was  believed  to  deliver  oracles  and  prophecies. 
At  times,  it  was  said,  the  image  moved  of  its  own 
accord,  and  if  not  lifted  up  at  once  by  the  priests,  began 
to  perspire.  When  the  priests  took  it  in  their  hands, 
it  led  them  from  one  part  of  the  temple  to  the  other, 
until  the  high-priest,  standing  before  it,  asked  it  ques- 
tions, which  it  answered  by  driving  its  bearers  forward. 
The  central  objects  of  worship,  however,  were  the  golden 
images  of  two  deities,  whom  Lucian  identifies  with  the 
Greek  Hera  and  Zeus,  another  figure  standing  between 
them,  on  the  head  of  which  rested  a  golden  dove.  The 
gcddess,  who  blazed  with  precious  stones,  bore  in  her 
hand  a  sceptre  and  on  her  head  that  turreted  or  mural 
crown  which  distinguishes  the  goddesses  of  Boghaz 
Keui.  Like  them,  moreover,  she  was  supported  on 
lions,  while  her  consort  was  carried  by  bulls.  In  him 
we  may  recognise  the  god  who  at  Boghaz  Keui  is 
advancing  to  meet  the  supreme  Hittite  goddess. 

In  the  Egyptian  text  of  the  treaty  between  Ramses 
and  the  king  of  Kadesh,  the  supreme  Hittite  god  is 
called  Sutekh,  the  goddess  being  Antarata,  or  perhaps 
Astarata.  In  later  days,  however,  the  goddess  of  Car- 
chemish  was  known  as  Athar-'Ati,  which  the  Greeks 
transformed  into  Atargatis  and  Derketo.  Derketo  was 
fabled  to  be  the  mother  of  Semiramis,  in  whom  Greek 


106  THE  HITTITES. 

legend  saw  an  Assyrian  queen  ;  but  Semiramis  was 
really  the  goddess  Istar,  called  Ashtoreth  in  Canaan, 
and  Atthar  or  Athar  by  the  Arameans,  among  whom 
Carchemish  was  built.  Derketo  was,  therefore,  but 
another  form  of  Semiramis,  or  rather  but  another  name 
under  which  the  great  Asiatic  goddess  was  known.  The 
dove  was  sacred  to  her,  and  this  explains  why  an  image 
of  the  dove  was  placed  above  the  head  of  the  third 
image  in  the  divine  triad  of  Mabog. 

The  temple  was  served  by  a  multitude  of  priests. 
More  than  300  took  part  in  the  sacrifices  on  the  day 
when  Lucian  saw  it.  The  priests  were  dressed  in  v/hite, 
and  wore  the  skull-cap  which  we  find  depicted  on  the 
Hittite  monuments.  The  high-priest  alone  carried  on 
his  head  the  lofty  tiara,  which  the  sculptures  indicate  was 
a  prerogative  of  gods  and  kings.  Prominent  among 
the  priests  were  the  Galli  or  eunuchs,  who  on  the  days 
of  festival  cut  their  arms  and  scourged  themselves  in 
honour  of  their  deities.  Such  actions  remind  us  of  those 
priests  of  Baal  who  '  cut  themselves  after  their  manner 
with  knives  and  lancets,  till  the  blood  gushed  out  upon 
them/ 

Twice  a  year  a  solemn  procession  took  place  to  a 
small  chasm  in  the  rock  under  the  temple,  where,  it  was 
alleged,  the  waters  of  the  deluge  had  been  swallowed 
up,  and  water  from  the  sea  was  poured  into  it.  It  is  to 
this  pit  that  Melito,  a  Christian  writer  of  Syria,  alludes 
when  he  says  that  the  goddess  Simi,  the  daughter  of 
the  supreme  god  Hadad,  put  an  end  to  the  attacks  of 
a  demon  by  filling  with  sea  water  the  pit  in  which  he 
lived.  But  in  Lucian's  time  the  demon  was  regarded  as 
the  deluge,  and  the  account  of  the  deluge  given  to  the 
Greek  writer  agrees  so  closely  with  that  which  we  read 


HITTITE  RELIGION  AND  ART.  107 

in  Genesis  as  to  make  it  clear  that  it  had  been  borrowed 
by  the  priests  of  Hierapolis  from  the  Hebrew  Scriptures. 
It  is  probable,  however,  that  the  tradition  itself  was  of 
much  older  standing,  and  had  originally  been  imported 
from  Babylonia.  At  all  events  the  hero  of  the  deluge 
was  called  Sisythes,  a  modification  of  the  name  of  the 
Chaldaean  Noah,  while  Major  Conder  found  a  place  in 
the  close  neighbourhood  of  Kadesh  which  is  known  as 
*  the  Ark  of  the  Prophet  Noah/  and  close  at  hand  a 
spring  termed  the  Tannur  or  'Oven/  out  of  which, 
according  to  Mohammedan  belief,  the  waters  of  the 
flood  gushed  forth. 

But  there  were  many  other  festivals  at  Mabog  besides 
that  which  commemorated  the  subsidence  of  the  deluge. 
Pilgrims  flocked  to  it  from  all  parts — Arabia,  Palestine, 
Kappadokia,  Babylonia,  even  India.  They  were  re- 
quired to  drink  water  only,  and  to  sleep  on  the  ground. 
Numerous  and  rich  were  the  offerings  which  they 
brought  to  the  shrine,  and  once  arrived  there  were 
called  upon  to  offer  sacrifices.  Goats  and  sheep  were 
the  most  common  victims,  though  oxen  were  also 
offered.  The  only  animal  whose  flesh  was  forbidden  to 
be  either  sacrificed  or  eaten  was  the  swine ;  as  among 
the  Jews,  it  was  regarded  as  unclean.  After  being 
dedicated  in  the  court  of  the  temple  the  animal  was 
usually  led  to  the  house  of  the  offerer,  and  there  put  to 
death ;  sometimes,  however,  it  was  killed  by  being 
thrown  from  the  entrance  to  the  temple.  Even  children 
were  sacrificed  by  their  parents  in  this  way,  after  first 
being  tied  up  in  skins  and  told  that  they  were  'not 
children  but  oxen/ 

Different  stories  were  current  as  to  the  foundation  of 
the  temple.  There  were  some  who  affirmed  that 


J08  THE  HITTITES. 

Sisythes  had  built  it  after  the  deluge  over  the  spot 
where  the  waters  of  the  flood  had  been  swallowed  up  by 
the  earth.  It  is  possible  that  this  was  the  legend 
originally  believed  in  Mabog  before  the  traditions  of 
Carchemish  had  been  transferred  to  it.  It  seems  to  be 
closely  connected  with  the  local  peculiarities  of  the  site. 
The  other  legends  had  doubtless  had  their  origin  in  the 
older  Hierapolis.  According  to  one  of  them,  the  temple 
had  been  founded  by  Semiramis  in  honour  of  her 
mother  Derketo,  half  woman  and  half  fish,  to  whom  the 
fish  in  the  neighbouring  lake  were  sacred.  Another 
account  made  Attys  its  founder,  and  the  goddess  to  whom 
it  was  dedicated  the  divinity  called  Rhea  by  the  Greeks. 
Derketo  and  Rhea,  however,  are  but  different  names 
of  the  same  deity,  who  was  known  as  Kybele  or  Kybebe 
in  Phrygia,  and  honoured  with  the  title  of  c  the  Great 
Mother.'  Her  images  were  covered  with  breasts,  to 
symbolise  that  she  was  but  mother-earth,  from  whom 
mankind  derived  their  means  of  life.  Her  attributes 
were  borrowed  from  those  of  the  Babylonian  Istar,  the 
Ashtoreth  of  Canaan  ;  even  the  form  assigned  to  her 
was  that  of  the  Babylonian  Istar,  as  we  learn  from  a 
bas-relief  discovered  at  Carchemish,  where  she  is  repre- 
sented as  naked,  a  lofty  tiara  alone  excepted,  with  the 
hands  upon  the  breasts  and  a  wing  rising  behind  each 
shoulder.  She  was,  in  fact,  a  striking  illustration  of  the 
influence  exerted  upon  the  Hittites,  and  through  them 
upon  the  people  of  Asia  Minor,  by  Babylonian  religion 
and  worship.  Even  in  Lydia  a  stone  has  been  found 
on  which  her  image  is  carved  in  a  rude  style  of  art,  but 
similar  in  form  to  the  representations  of  her  in  the  bas- 
relief  of  Carchemish  and  the  cylinders  of  ancient 
Chaldaea. 


HITTITE  RELIGION  AND  ART.  109 

This  stone,  like  the  seated  figure  on  Mount  Sipylos, 
is  a  witness  that  her  cult  was  carried  westward  by  the 
Hittite  armies.  Later  tradition  preserved  a  reminis- 
cence of  the  fact.  The  Lydian  hero  Kayster  was  said 
to  have  gone  to  Syria,  and  there  had  Derketo  for  his 
bride,  while  on  the  other  hand  it  was  a  Lydian,  Mopsos, 
who  was  believed  to  Ijave  drowned  the  goddess  Derketo 
in  the  sacred  lake  of  Ashkelon.  We  have  here,  it  may 
be,  recollections  of  the  days  when  Lydian  soldiers 
marched  against  Egypt  under  the  leadership  of  Hittite 
princes,  and  learnt  to  know  the  name  and  the  character 
of  Athar-'Ati,  the  goddess  of  Carchemish. 

The  Babylonian  Istar  was  accompanied  by  her  son 
and  bridegroom  Tammuz,  the  youthful  Sun-god,  the 
story  of  whose  untimely  death  made  a  deep  impression 
on  the  popular  mind.  Even  in  Jerusalem  Ezekiel  saw 
the  women  weeping  for  the  death  of  Tammuz  within 
the  precincts  of  the  temple  itself ;  and  for  days  together 
each  year  in  the  Phoenician  cities  the  festival  of  his 
death  and  resurrection  were  observed  with  fanatic  zeal. 
In  Syria  he  was  called  Hadad,  and  identified  with  the 
god  Rimmon,  so  that  Zechariah  (xii.  u)  speaks  of  the 
m&urning  for  Hadad-Rimmon  in  the  valley  of  Megiddo. 
At  Hierapolis  and  Aleppo  also  he  was  known  as 
Hadad  or  Dadi,  while  throughout  Asia  Minor  he  was 
adored  under  the  name  of  Attys,  '  the  shepherd  of  the 
bright  stars/  The  myth  which  told  of  his  death  under- 
went a  slight  change  of  form  among  the  Hittites,  and 
through  them  among  the  tribes  of  Asia  Minor.  He  is 
doubtless  the  young  god  who  on  the  rocks  of  Boghaz 
Keui  appears  behind  the  mother-goddess,  riding  like  her 
on  the  back  of  a  panther  or  lion. 

The  people  of  Mabog  did  not  forget  that  their  temple 


110  THE  HITTITES. 

was  but  the  successor  of  an  older  one,  and  that  Carchemish 
had  once  been  the  '  Holy  City'  of  Northern  Syria.  The 
legends,  therefore,  which  referred  to  the  foundation  of 
the  sanctuary  were  said  to  relate  to  one  which  had 
formerly  existed,  but  had  long  since  fallen  into  decay. 
The  origin  of  the  temple  visited  by  Lucian  was  ascribed 
to  a  certain  '  Stratonike,  the  wife  of  the  Assyrian  king.' 
But  Stratonike  is  merely  a  Greek  transformation  of  some 
Semitic  epithet  of  'Ashtoreth,'  and  marks  the  time  when 
the  Phoenician  Ashtoreth  took  the  place  of  the  earlier 
Athar-'Ati.  A  strange  legend  was  told  of  the  youthful 
Kombabos,  who  was  sent  from  Babylon  to  take  part  in 
the  building  of  the  shrine.  Kombabos  was  but  Tammuz 
under  another  name,  just  as  Stratonike  was  Istar,  and 
the  legend  is  chiefly  interesting  as  testifying  to  the 
religious  influence  once  exercised  by  the  Babylonians 
upon  the  Hittite  people. 

Semiramis  may  turn  out  to  have  been  the  Hittite  name 
of  the  goddess  called  Athar-JAti  by  the  Aramean 
inhabitants  of  Hierapolis.  In  this  case  the  difficulty  of 
accounting  for  the  existence  of  the  two  names  would 
have  been  solved  in  the  old  myths  by  making  her  the 
daughter  of  Derketo.  But  while  Derketo  was  a  fish- 
goddess,  Semiramis  was  associated  with  the  dove,  like  the 
Ashtoreth  or  Aphrodite  who  was  worshipped  in  Cyprus. 
The  symbol  of  the  dove  had  been  carried  to  the  distant 
West  at  an  early  period.  Among  the  objects  found  by 
Dr.  Schliemann  in  the  prehistoric  tombs  of  Mykenae 
were  figures  in  gold-leaf,  two  of  which  represented  a 
naked  goddess  with  the  hands  upon  the  breasts  and 
doves  above  her,  while  the  third  has  the  form  of  a  temple, 
on  the  two  pinnacles  of  which  are  seated  two  doves. 
Considering  how  intimately  the  prehistoric  art  of  My- 


HITTITE  RELIGION  AND  ART.  Ill 

kenae  seems  to  have  been  connected  with  that  of  Asia 
Minor,  it  is  hardly  too  much  to  suppose  that  the  symbol 
of  the  dove  had  made  its  way  across  the  ^Egean  through 
the  help  of  the  Hittites,  and  that  in  the  pinnacled  temple 
of  Mykense,  with  its  two  doves,  we  may  see  a  picture  of 
a  Hittite  temple  in  Lydia  or  Kappadokia. 

The  legends  reported  by  Lucian  about  the  foundation 
of  the  temple  of  Mabog  all  agreed  that  it  was  dedicated 
to  a  goddess.  The  '  Holy  City '  was  under  the  protection, 
not  of  a  male  but  of  a  female  divinity,  which  explains  why 
it  was  that  it  was  served  by  eunuch  priests.  If  Attys 
or  Hadad  was  worshipped  there,  it  was  in  right  of  his 
mother ;  the  images  of  the  other  gods  stood  in  the 
temple  on  sufferance  only.  The  male  deity  whom  the 
Greek  author  identified  with  Zeus  must  have  been 
regarded  as  admitted  by  treaty  or  marriage  to  share 
in  the  honours  paid  to  her.  It  must  have  been  the 
same  also  at  Boghaz  Keui.  Here,  too,  the  most  pro- 
minent figure  in  the  divine  procession  is  that  of  the 
Mother-goddess,  who  is  followed  by  her  son  Attys,  while 
the  god,  whose  name  may  be  read  Tar  or  Tarku,  'the 
king/  and  who  is  the  Zeus  of  Lucian,  advances  to  meet 
her. 

In  Cilicia  and  Lydia  this  latter  god  seems  to  have 
been  known  as  Sandan.  He  is  called  on  coins  the 
'  Baal  of  Tarsos,'  and  he  carries  in  his  hand  a  bunch 
of  grapes  and  a  stalk  of  corn.  We  may  see  his  figure 
engraved  on  the  rock  of  Ibreez.  Here  he  wears  on  his 
head  the  pointed  Hittite  cap,  ornamented  with  horn- 
like ribbons,  besides  the  short  tunic  and  boots  with 
upturned  ends.  On  his  wrists  are  bracelets,  and  ear- 
rings hang  from  his  ears. 

Sandan   was   identified   with  the   Sun,   and   hence  it 


112  THE  HITTITES. 

happened  that  when  a  Semitic  language  came  to  prevail 
in  Cilicia  he  was  transformed  into  a  supreme  Baal.  The 
same  transformation  had  taken  place  centuries  before  in 
the  Hittite  cities  of  Syria.  Beside  the  Syrian  goddess 
Kes,  who  is  represented  as  standing  upon  a  lion,  like 
the  great  goddess  of  Carchemish,  the  Egyptian  monu- 
ments tell  us  of  Sutekh,  who  stands  in  the  same  relation 
to  his  Hittite  worshippers  as  the  Semitic  Baal  stood  to 
the  populations  of  Canaan.  Sutekh  was  the  supreme 
Hittite  god,  but  at  the  same  time  he  was  localised  in 
every  city  or  state  in  which  the  Hittites  lived.  Thus 
there  was  a  Sutekh  of  Carchemish  and  a  Sutekh  of 
Kadesh,  just  as  there  was  a  Baal  of  Tyre  and  a  Baal 
of  Tarsos.  The  forms  under  which  he  was  worshipped 
were  manifold,  but  everywhere  it  was  the  same  Sutekh, 
the  same  national  god. 

It  would  seem  that  the  power  of  Sutekh  began  to 
wane  after  the  age  of  Ramses,  and  that  the  goddess  began 
to  usurp  the  place  once  held  by  the  god.  It  is  possible 
that  this  was  due  to  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  influence. 
At  any  rate,  whereas  it  is  Sutekh  who  appears  at  the 
head  of  the  Hittite  states  in  the  treaty  with  Ramses,  in 
later  days  the  chief  cult  of  the  '  Holy  Cities'  was  paid  to 
the  Mother-goddess.  His  place  was  taken  by  the  goddess 
at  Carchemish  as  well  as  at  Mabog,  at  Boghaz  -Kern  as 
well  as  at  Komana. 

In  the  Kappadokian  Komana  the  goddess  went  under 
the  name  of  Ma.  She  was  served  by  6000  priests  and 
priestesses,  the  whole  city  being  dedicated  to  her  service. 
The  place  of  the  king  was  occupied  by  the  Abakles 
or  high-priest.  We  have  seen  that  the  sculptures  of 
Boghaz  Keui  give  us  reason  to  believe  that  the  same 
was  also  the  case  in  Pteria;  we  know  that  it  was  so  in 


HITTITE  RELIGION  AND   ART.  113 

other  'Holy  Cities'  of  Asia  Minor.  At  Pessinus  in 
Phrygia,  where  lions  and  panthers  stood  beside  the 
goddess,  the  whole  city  was  given  up  to  her  worship, 
under  the  command  of  the  chief  Gallos  or  priest ;  and 
on  the  shores  of  the  Black  Sea  the  Amazonian  priestesses 
of  Kybele,  who  danced  in  armour  in  her  honour,  were 
imagined  by  the  Greeks  to  constitute  the  sole  population 
of  an  entire  country.  At  Ephesos,  in  spite  of  the  Greek 
colony  which  had  found  its  way  there,  the  worship  of  the 
Mother-goddess  continued  to  absorb  the  life  of  the 
inhabitants,  so  that  it  still  could  be  described  in  the 
time  of  St.  Paul  as  a  city  which  was  'a  worshipper 
of  the  great  goddess/  Here,  as  at  Pessinus,  she  was 
worshipped  under  the  form  of  a  meteoric  stone  'which 
had  fallen  from  heaven.' 

We  may  regard  these  '  Holy  Cities/  placed  under  the 
protection  of  a  goddess  and  wholly  devoted  to  her  wor- 
ship, as  peculiarly  characteristic  of  the  Hittite  race. 
Their  two  southern  capitals,  Kadesh  and  Carchemish, 
were  cities  of  this  kind,  and  their  stronghold  at  Boghaz 
Keui  was  presumably  also  a  consecrated  place.  Their 
progress  through  Asia  Minor  was  characterised  by  the 
rise  of  priestly  cities  and  the  growth  of  a  class  of  armed 
priestesses.  Komana  in  Kappadokia,  and  Ephesos  on 
the  shores  of  the  -^Egean,  are  typical  examples  of  such 
holy  towns.  The  entire  population  ministered  to  the 
divinity  to  whom  the  city  was  dedicated,  the  sanctuary 
of  the  deity  stood  in  its  centre,  and  the  chief  authority 
was  wielded  by  a  high-priest.  If  a  king  existed  by  the 
side  of  the  priest,  he  came  in  course  of  time  to  fill  a  merely 
subordinate  position. 

These  'Holy  Cities'  were  also  'Asyla'  or  Cities  of 
Refuge.  The  homicide  could  escape  to  them,  and  be 

H 


114  THE  HITTITES. 

safe  from  his  pursuers.  Once  within  the  precincts  of 
the  city  and  the  protection  of  its  deity,  he  could  not  be 
injured  or  slain.  But  it  was  not  only  the  man  who  had 
slain  another  by  accident  who  could  thus  claim  an 
'asylum'  from  his  enemies.  The  debtor  and  the  poli- 
tical refugee  were  equally  safe.  Doubtless  the  right 
of  asylum  was  frequently  abused,  and  real  criminals 
took  advantage  of  regulations  which  were  intended  to 
protect  the  unfortunate  in  an  age  of  lawlessness  and 
revenge.  But  the  institution  on  the  whole  worked 
well,  and,  while  it  strengthened  the  power  of  the  priest- 
hood, it  curbed  injustice  and  restrained  violence. 

Now  the  institution  of  Cities  of  Refuge  did  not  exist 
only  in  Asia  Minor  and  in  the  region  occupied  by  the 
Hittites.  It  existed  also  in  Palestine,  and  it  seems 
not  unlikely  that  it  was  adopted  by  the  great  Hebrew 
lawgiver,  acting  under  divine  guidance,  from  the  older 
population  of  the  country.  The  Hebrew  cities  of  refuge 
were  six  in  number.  One  of  them  was  '  Kedesh  in 
Galilee/  whose  very  name  declares  it  to  have  been  a 
'Holy  City/  like  Kadesh  on  the  Orontes,  while  another 
was  the  ancient  sanctuary  of  Hebron,  once  occupied 
by  Hittites  and  Amorites.  Shechem,  the  third  city  of 
refuge  on  the  western  side  of  the  Jordan,  had  been 
taken  by  Jacob  '  out  of  the  hand  of  the  Amorite'  (Gen. 
xlviii.  32) ;  and  the  other  three  cities  were  all  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  Jordan,  in  the  region  so  long  held  by 
Amorite  tribes.  We  are  therefore  tempted  to  ask  whether 
these  cities  had  not  already  been  'asyla'  or  cities  of 
refuge  long  before  Moses  was  enjoined  by  God  to  make 
them  such  for  the  Israelitish  conquerors  of  Palestine. 

Closely  connected  with  Hittite  religion  was  Hittite 
art.  Religion  and  art  have  been  often  intertwined  to- 


HITTITE  RELIGION  AND   ART.  115 

gether  in  the  history  of  the  world,  and  we  can  often 
infer  the  religion  of  a  people  from  its  art,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  sculptures  of  Boghaz  Keui.  Hittite  art  was  a 
modification  of  that  of  Babylonia,  and  bears  testimony 
to  the  same  Babylonian  influence  as  the  worship  of 
the  '  Mother-goddess/  The  same  Chaldaean  culture  is 
presupposed  by  both. 

But  while  the  art  of  the  Hittites  was  essentially 
Babylonian  in  origfn,  it  was  profoundly  modified  in  the 
hands  of  the  Hittite  artists.  The  deities,  indeed,  were 
made  to  ride  on  the  backs  of  animals,  as  upon  Baby- 
lonian cylinders,  the  walls  of  the  palaces  were  adorned 
with  long  rows  of  bas-reliefs,  as  in  Chaldaea  and  Assyria, 
and  there  was  the  same  tendency  to  arrange  animals 
face  to  face  in  heraldic  style ;  but  nevertheless  the 
workmanship  and  the  details  introduced  into  it  were 
purely  native.  Even  a  symbol  like  the  winged  solar 
disk  assumes  in  Hittite  sculpture  a  special  character 
which  can  never  be  mistaken.  The  Hittite  artist  ex- 
celled in  the  representation  of  animal  forms,  but  the 
lion,  which  he  seems  to  have  never  wearied  of  designing, 
is  treated  in  a  peculiar  way  which  marks  it  sharply  off 
from  the  sculptured  lions  either  of  Babylonia  or  of  any 
other  country.  So,  too,  in  the  case  of  the  human  figure, 
though  the  general  conception  has  been  derived  from 
Babylonian  art,  the  conception  is  worked  out  in  a 
new  and  original  manner.  Those  who  have  once  seen 
the  sculptured  image  of  a  Hittite  warrior  or  a  Hittite 
god,  can  never  confuse  it  with  the  artistic  productions 
of  another  race.  The  figure  is  clearly  drawn  from  the 
daily  experience  of  the  sculptor's  own  life.  The  dress 
with  its  peaked  shoes,  the  thick  rounded  form,  the 
strange  protrusive  profile,  were  copied  from  the  costume 

H  2 


Il6  THE  HITTITES. 

and  appearance  of  his  fellow-countrymen,  and  the  striking 
agreement  that  exists  between  his  representation  of  them 
and  that  which  we  find  on  the  Egyptian  monuments 
proves  how  faithfully  he  must  have  worked.  The  ele- 
ments, in  short,  of  Babylonian  art  are  present  in  the  art 
of  the  Hittite,  but  the  treatment  and  selection  are  his 
own. 

It  is  in  his  selection  and  combination  of  these  elements 
that  he  exhibits  most  clearly  his  originality.  Monsters, 
half  human,  half  bestial,  were  known  to  the  Babylonians, 
but  it  was  left  to  the  Hittite  to  invent  a  double-headed 
eagle,  or  to  plant  a  human  head  on  a  column  of  lions. 
The  so-called  rope-pattern  occurs  once  or  twice  on 
Babylonian  gems,  but  it  became  a  distinguishing  char- 
acteristic of  Hittite  art,  like  the  employment  of  the 
heads  only  of  animals  instead  of  their  entire  forms. 

So,  again,  the  heraldic  arrangement  of  animals  face 
to  face,  or  more  rarely  back  to  back,  had  its  first  home 
in  Chaldaea,  but  it  was  the  Hittites  who  raised  it  into 
a  principle  of  art.  We  may  perhaps  trace  their  doing 
so  to  their  love  of  animal  forms. 

The  influence  of  Babylonian  culture  may  have  made 
itself  first  felt  in  the  age  of  the  eighteenth  Egyptian 
dynasty,  when  the  cuneiform  tablets  of  Tel  el-Amarna 
represent  the  Hittite  tribes  as  descending  southward  into 
the  Syrian  plains.  It  may  on  the  other  hand  go  back  to 
a  much  earlier  epoch.  We  have  no  materials  at  present 
for  deciding  the  question.  One  fact,  however,  is  clear ; 
there  was  a  time  when  the  Hittites  were  profoundly 
affected  by  Babylonian  civilisation,  religion  and  art. 
Before  this  could  have  been  the  case  they  must  have 
been  already  settled  in  Syria. 

It  is  more  easy  to  fix  the  period  when  the  Hittite 


HITTITE  RELIGION  AND  ART.  II  7 

sculptor  received  that  inspiration  from  Egyptian  art 
which  produced  the  sphinxes  of  Eyuk  and  the  seated 
image  on  Mount  Sipylos.  It  can  only  have  been  the 
age  of  Ramses  II.,  and  of  the  great  wars  between  Egypt 
and  the  Hittite  princes  in  the  fourteenth  century  before 
our  era.  The  influence  of  Egypt  was  but  transitory, 
but  it  was  to  it,  in  all  probability,  that  the  Hittites 
owed  the  idea  of  hieroglyphic  writing. 

At  a  far  later  date  Babylonian  influence  was  super- 
seded by  that  of  Assyria.  The  later  sculptures  of 
Carchemish  betray  the  existence  of  Assyrian  rather 
than  of  Babylonian  models.  The  winged  figure  of  the 
goddess  of  Carchemish  now  in  the  British  Museum  is 
Assyrian  in  style  and  character,  and  it  is  possible  that 
other  draped  images  of  the  goddess  may  be  derived 
from  the  same  source.  In  Babylonian  art  Istar  was 
represented  nude. 

However  this  may  be,  Professor  Perrot  has  made  it 
clear  that  the  beginnings  of  Hittite  art  must  be  looked 
for  in  Syria,  on  the  southern  slopes  of  the  Taurus,  from 
whence  it  spread  to  the  tribes  of  Kappadokia.  It  is 
in  Northern  Syria  that  its  rudest  and  most  infantile 
attempts  have  been  found.  The  sculptors  of  Eyuk  were 
already  advanced  in  skill. 

To  Professor  Perrot  we  also  owe  the  discovery  of 
bronze  figures  of  Hittite  manufacture.  The  execution 
of  them  is  at  once  conventional  and  barbarous.  Nothing 
can  exceed  the  rudeness  of  a  figure  now  in  the  Louvre, 
which  represents  a  god  with  a  pointed  tiara,  standing 
on  the  back  of  an  animal.  Though  the  face  of  the  god 
has  evidently  been  modelled  with  care,  it  is  impossible 
to  tell  to  what  zoological  species  the  animal  which 
supports  him  is  intended  to  belong.  Almost  equally 


Il8  THE  HITTITES. 

far  removed  from  nature  is  the  bronze  image  of  a  bull 
which  is  also  in  the  Louvre. 

If  these  bronzes  are  to  be  regarded  as  the  highest 
efforts  of  Hittite  metallurgic  work,  it  is  not  to  be  re- 
gretted that  they  are  few  in  number.  But  it  is  quite 
different  with  the  engraved  gems  which  we  now  know 
to  have  been  of  Hittite  workmanship.  Many  of  them 
are  exceedingly  fine  ;  a  haematite  cylinder,  for  instance, 
which  was  discovered  at  Kappadokia,  is  equal  to  the 
best  products  of  Babylonian  art.  The  gems  and 
cylinders  were  for  the  most  part  intended  to  be  used  as 
seals,  and  some  of  them  are  provided  with  handles  cut 
out  of  the  stone,  the  seal  itself  having  designs  on  four, 
and  sometimes  on  five  faces.  These  handles  seem  to  be 
a  peculiarity  of  Hittite  art,  or  at  least  of  the  art  which 
derived  its  inspiration  from  that  of  the  Hittites. 
Another  peculiarity  noticeable  in  many  of  the  gems, 
consists  in  enclosing  the  inner  field  of  the  engraved 
design  with  one  or  more  concentric  circles,  each  circle 
containing  an  elaborate  series  of  ornaments  or  figures, 
or  even  characters,  though  the  characters  are  usually 
placed  in  the  central  field.  Thus  two  gems  have  been 
found  at  Yuzghat,  in  Kappadokia,  so  much  alike,  that 
they  must  have  been  the  work  of  the  same  artist.  On 
the  larger  an  inscription  has  been  engraved  in  the 
centre,  round  which  runs  a  circle  containing  a  large 
number  of  beautifully-executed  figures.  The  winged 
solar  disk  rests  upon  the  symbol  of  '  kingship/  on  either 
side  of  which  kneels  a  figure,  half  man  and  half  bull. 
On  the  right  and  left  is  the  figure  of  a  standing  priest, 
behind  whom  we  see  on  the  left  a  man  adoring  what 
seems  to  be  the  stump  of  a  tree,  while  on  the  right  are 
a  tree,  two  arrows  and  a  quiver,  a  basket,  a  stag's  head, 


HITTITE  RELIGION  AND  ART.  119 

and  a  seated  deity,  above  whose  hand  is  a  bird.  The 
two  groups  are  separated  by  the  picture  of  a  boot — the 
symbol,  it  may  be,  of  the  earth — which  rests,  like  the 
winged  solar  disk,  on  the  symbol  of  royalty.  The  smaller 
seal  has  a  different  inscription  in  the  centre,  encircled 
by  two  rings,  one  containing  a  row  of  ornaments,  and 
the  other  the  same  figures  as  those  engraved  on  the 
larger  seal,  excepting  only  that  the  arrangement  of  the 
figures  has  been  changed,  and  a  tree  introduced  among 
them.  What  is  curious,  however,  is  that  a  gem  has 
been  found  at  Aidin,  far  away  towards  the  western 
extremity  of  Asia  Minor,  containing  a  central  inscrip- 
tion almost  identical  with  that  of  the  smaller  Yuzghat 
seal,  though  the  figures  which  surround  it  are  not  the 
same. 

These  circular  seals  must  be  regarded  not  only  as 
characteristic  of  Hittite  art,  but  also  as  a  product  of 
Hittite  invention.  We  meet  with  nothing  resembling 
them  in  Babylonia  or  Assyria. 

The  gems  can  be  traced  across  the  ^Egean  to  the 
shores  of  Greece.  Among  the  objects  discovered  by 
Dr.  Schliemann  at  Mykenae  were  two  rings  of  gold,  on 
the  chatons  of  which  designs  are  engraved  in  what  we 
may  now  recognise  as  the  Hittite  style  of  art.  On  one 
of  them  are  two  rows  of  animals'  heads  ;  on  the  other 
an  elaborate  picture,  which  reminds  us  of  the  elaborate 
designs  on  the  gems  of  Asia  Minor.  It  represents  a 
woman  under  a  tree,  facing  two  other  persons,  who  wear 
the  upturned  boots  and  flounced  dress  that  we  find  in 
Hittite  sculptures,  while  the  background  is  filled  in 
with  the  heads  of  animals. 

These  gems  are  not  the  only  indication  the  ruins  of 
Mykenae  have  afforded  that  Hittite  influence  was 


120  THE  HITTITES. 

spread  beyond  the  coasts  of  Asia  Minor.  Allusion  has 
already  been  made  to  the  figures  of  the  Hittite  goddess 
and  the  doves  that  rested  on  the  pinnacles  of  her 
temple  ;  another  figure  in  thin  gold  gives  us  a  likeness 
of  the  Hittite  goddess  seated  on  the  cliff  of  Sipylos,  as 
she  appeared  before  rain  and  tempest  had  changed  her 
into  '  the  weeping  Niobe.'  Perhaps,  however,  the  most 
striking  illustration  of  the  westward  migration  of  Hittite 
influence,  is  to  be  found  in  the  famous  lions  which  stand 
fronting  each  other,  carved  on  stone,  above  the  great 
gate  of  the  ancient  Peloponnesian  city.  The  lions  of 
Mykenae  have  long  been  known  as  the  oldest  piece  of 
sculpture  in  Europe,  but  the  art  which  inspired  it  was  of 
Hittite  origin.  A  similar  bas-relief  has  been  discovered 
at  Kiimbet,  in  Phrygia,  in  the  near  vicinity  of  Hittite 
monuments  ;  and  we  have  just  seen  that  the  heraldic 
position  in  which  the  lions  are  represented  was  a  peculiar 
feature  of  Hittite  art. 

Greek  tradition  affirmed  that  the  rulers  of  Mykenae 
had  come  from  Lydia,  bringing  with  them  the  civilisation 
and  the  treasures  of  Asia  Minor.  The  tradition  has 
been  confirmed  by  modern  research.  While  certain 
elements  belonging  to  the  prehistoric  culture  of  Greece, 
as  revealed  at  Mykenae  and  elsewhere,  were  derived 
from  Egypt  and  Phoenicia,  there  are  others  which 
point  to  Asia  Minor  as  their  source.  And  the  culture 
of  Asia  Minor  was  Hittite.  Mr.  Gladstone,  therefore, 
may  be  right  in  seeing  the  Hittites  in  the  Keteians  of 
Homer — that  Homer  who  told  of  the  legendary  glories 
of  Mykenae  and  the  Lydian  dynasty  which  held  it  in 
possession.  Even  the  buckle,  with  the  help  of  which 
the  prehistoric  Greek  fastened  his  cloak,  has  been 
shown  by  a  German  scholar  to  imply  an  arrangement 


HITTITE  RELIGION  AND  ART.  J2I 

of  the  dress  such  as  we  see  represented  on  the  Hittite 
monument  of  Ibreez. 

For  us  of  the  modern  world,  therefore,  the  resurrection 
of  the  Hittite  people  from  their  long  sleep  of  oblivion 
possesses  a  double  interest.  They  appeal  to  us  not 
alone  because  of  the  influence  they  once  exercised  on 
the  fortunes  of  the  Chosen  People,  not  alone  because 
a  Hittite  was  the  wife  of  David  and  the  ancestress  of 
Christ,  but  also  on  account  of  the  debt  which  the 
civilisation  of  our  o'wn  Europe  owes  to  them.  Our 
culture  is  the  inheritance  we  have  received  from  ancient 
Greece,  and  the  first  beginnings  of  Greek  culture  were 
derived  from  the  Hittite  conquerors  of  Asia  Minor. 
The  Hittite  warriors  who  still  guard  the  Pass  of  Karabel, 
on  the  very  threshold  of  Asia,  are  symbols  of  the 
position  occupied  by  the  race  in  the  education  of  man- 
kind. The  Hittites  carried  the  time-worn  civilisations 
of  Babylonia  and  Egypt  to  the  furthest  boundary  of 
Asia,  and  there  handed  them  over  to  the  West  in  the 
grey  dawn  of  European  history.  But  they  never  passed 
the  boundary  themselves  ;  with  the  conquest  of  Lydia 
their  mission  was  accomplished,  the  work  that  had  been 
appointed  them  was  fulfilled. 


AN   INSCRIPTION    FOUND   AT   CAKCHEMISH   (nOIV  destroyed). 

CHAPTER   VII. 

THE     INSCRIPTIONS. 

HOW  can  the  history  of  a  lost  people  be  recovered, 
it  may  be  asked,  except  through  the  help  of  the 
records  they  have  left  behind  them  ?  How  can  we  come 
to  know  anything  about  the  Hittites  until  their  few  and 
fragmentary  inscriptions  are  deciphered  ?  The  answer  to 
this  question  will  have  been  furnished  by  the  preceding 
pages.  Though  the  Hittite  inscriptions  are  still  unde- 
ciphered,  though  the  number  of  them  is  still  very  small, 
there  are  other  materials  for  reconstructing  the  history 
of  the  race,  and  these  materials  have  now  found  their 


THE  INSCRIPTIONS. 

interpreter.  The  sculptured  monuments  the  Hittites  have 
left  behind  them,  the  seals  they  engraved,  the  cities  they 
inhabited,  the  memorials  of  them  preserved  in  the  Old 
Testament,  in  the  cuneiform  tablets  of  Assyria,  and  in  the 
papyri  of  Egypt,  have  all  served  to  build  up  afresh  the 
fabric  of  a  mighty  empire  which  once  exercised  so  pro- 
found an  influence  on  the  destinies  of  the  civilised  world. 

But  the  Hittite  inscriptions  have  not  been  altogether 
useless.  They  have  helped  to  connect  together  the 
scattered  monuments  of  Hittite  dominion,  and  to  prove 
that  the  peculiar  art  they  display  was  of  Hittite  origin. 
It  was  the  Hittite  hieroglyphs  which  accompany  the 
figure  of  the  warrior  in  the  Pass  of  Karabel,  and  of  the 
sitting  goddess  on  Mount  Sipylos,  that  proved  these 
sculptures  to  be  of  Hittite  origin.  It  has  similarly  been 
inscriptions  containing  Hittite  characters  which  have 
enabled  us  to  trace  the  march  of  the  Hittite  armies 
along  the  high-roads  of  Asia  Minor,  and  to  feel  sure 
that  Hittite  princes  once  reigned  in  the  city  of  Hamath. 

The  Hittite  texts  are  distinguished  by  two  charac- 
teristics. With  hardly  an  exception,  the  hieroglyphs 
that  compose  them  are  carved  in  relief  instead  of  being 
incised,  and  the  lines  read  alternately  from  right  to  left 
and  from  left  to  right.  The  direction  in  which  the 
characters  look  determines  the  direction  in  which  they 
should  be  read.  This  alternate  or  boustrophedon  mode 
of  writing  also  characterises  early  Greek  inscriptions, 
and  since  it  was  not  adopted  by  either  Phoenicians, 
Egyptians,  or  Assyrians,  the  question  arises  whether  the 
Greeks  did  not  learn  to  write  in  such  a  fashion  from 
neighbours  who  made  use  of  the  Hittite  script. 

Another  characteristic  of  Hittite  writing  is  the  fre- 
quent employment  of  the  heads  of  animals  and  men. 


J24  THE  HITTITES. 

It  is  very  rarely  that  the  whole  body  of  an  animal  is 
drawn  ;  the  head  alone  was  considered  sufficient.  This 
peculiarity  would  of  itself  mark  off  the  Hittite  hiero- 
glyphs from  those  of  Egypt. 

But  a  very  short  inspection  of  the  characters  is  enough 
to  show  that  the  Hittites  could  not  have  borrowed  them 
from  the  Egyptians.  The  two  forms  of  writing  are  ut- 
terly and  entirely  distinct.  Two  of  the  most  common 
Hittite  characters  represent  the  snow-boot  and  the 
fingerless  glove,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  indicate  the 
northern  ancestry  of  the  Hittite  tribes,  while  the  ideo- 
graph which  denotes  a  '  country '  is  a  picture  of  the 
mountain  peaks  of  the  Kappadokian  plateau.  It  would 
therefore  seem  that  the  system  of  writing  was  invented 
in  Kappadokia,  and  not  in  the  southern  regions  of  Syria 
or  Canaan. 

We  may  gather,  however,  that  the  invention  took 
place  after  the  contact  of  the  Hittites  with  Egypt,  and 
their  consequent  acquaintance  with  the  Egyptian  form 
of  script.  Similar  occurrences  have  happened  in  modern 
times.  A  Cheroki  Indian  in  North  America,  who  had 
seen  the  books  of  the  white  man,  was  led  thereby  to 
devise  an  elaborate  mode  of  writing  for  his  own  country- 
men, and  the  curious  syllabary  invented  for  the  Vei 
negroes  by  one  of  their  tribe  originated  in  the  same 
manner.  So,  too,  we  may  imagine  that  the  sight  of  the 
hieroglyphs  of  Egypt,  and  the  knowledge  that  thoughts 
could  be  conveyed  by  them,  suggested  to  some  Hittite 
genius  the  idea  of  inventing  a  similar  means  of  inter- 
communication for  his  own  people. 

At  any  rate,  it  is  pretty  clear  that  the  Hittite  charac- 
ters are  used  like  the  Egyptian,  sometimes  as  ideographs 
to  express  ideas,  sometimes  phonetically  to  represent 


THE  INSCRIPTIONS.  125 

syllables  and  sounds,  sometimes  as  determinatives  to 
denote  the  class  to  which  the  word  belongs  to  which 
they  are  attached.  It  is  probable,  moreover,  that  a  word 
or  sound  was  often  expressed  by  multiplying  the  cha- 
racters which  expressed  the  whole  or  part  of  it,  just  as 
was  the  case  in  Egyptian  writing  in  the  age  of  Ramses 
II.  At  the  same  time  the  number  of  separate  characters 
used  by  the  Hittites*  was  far  less  than  that  employed 
by  the  Egyptian  scribes.  At  present  not  '2OO  are  known 
to  exist,  though  almost  every  fresh  inscription  adds  to 
the  list. 

The  oldest  writing  material  of  the  Hittites  were  their 
plates  of  metal,  on  the  surface  of  which  the  characters 
were  hammered  out  from  behind.  The  Hittite  copy 
of  the  treaty  with  Ramses  II.  was  engraved  in  this 
manner  on  a  plate  of  silver,  its  centre  being  occupied 
with  a  representation  of  the  god  Sutekh  embracing  the 
Hittite  king,  and  a  short  line  of  hieroglyphs  running 
round  him.  This  central  ornamentation,  surrounded 
with  a  circular  band  of  figures,  was  in  accordance  with 
the  usual  style  of  Hittite  art.  The  Egyptian  monu- 
ments show  us  what  the  silver  plate  was  like.  It  was 
of  rectangular  shape,  with  a  ring  at  the  top  by  which 
it  could  be  suspended  from  the  wall.  If  ever  the  tomb 
of  Ur-Maa  Noferu-Ra,  the  Hittite  wife  of  Ramses,  is 
discovered,  it  is  possible  that  a  Hittite  copy  of  the  famous 
treaty  may  be  found  among  its  contents. 

At  all  events,  it  is  clear  that  already  at  this  period  the 
Hittites  were  a  literary  people.  The  Egyptian  records 
make  mention  of  a  certain  Khilip-sira,  whose  name  is 
compounded  with  that  of  Khilip  or  Aleppo,  and 
describe  him  as  'a  writer  of  books  of  the  vile  Kheta.' 
Like  the  Egyptian  Pharaoh,  the  Hittite  monarch  was 


126  THE  HITTITES. 

accompanied  to  battle  by  his  scribes.  If  Kirjath-sepher 
or  6  Book-town/  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Hebron,  was 
of  Hittite  origin,  the  Hittites  would  have  possessed 
libraries  like  the  Assyrians,  which  may  yet  be  dug  up. 
Kirjath-sepher  was  also  called  Debir,  '  the  sanctuary,' 
and  we  may  therefore  conclude  that  the  library  was 
stored  in  its  chief  temple,  as  were  the  libraries  of  Baby- 
lonia. There  was  another  Debir  or  Dapur  further  north, 
in  the  vicinity  of  Kadesh  on  the  Orontes,  which  is  men- 
tioned in  the  Egyptian  inscriptions  ;  and  since  this  was 
in  the  land  of  the  Amorites,  while  Kirjath-sepher  is 
also  described  as  an  Amorite  town,  it  is  possible  that 
here  too  the  relics  of  an  ancient  library  may  yet  be 
found.  We  must  not  forget  that  in  the  days  of  Deborah, 
'out  of  Zebulon,'  northward  of  Megiddo,  came  'they 
that  handle  the  pen  of  the  writer'  (Judg.  v.  14). 

The  inscriptions  recently  discovered  at  Tel  el-Amarna 
in  Egypt  have  shown  that  in  the  century  before  the 
Exodus  the  common  medium  of  literary  intercourse  in 
Western  Asia  was  the  language  and  cuneiform  script  of 
Babylonia.  It  was  subsequently  to  this  that  the  Hittites 
forced  their  way  southward,  bringing  with  them  their 
own  peculiar  system  of  hieroglyphic  writing.  But  the 
cuneiform  characters  still  continued  to  be  used  in  the 
Hittite  region  of  the  world.  Cuneiform  tablets  have 
been  purchased  at  Kaisariyeh  which  come  from  some 
old  library  of  Kappadokia,  the  site  of  which  is  still  un- 
known, and  Dr.  Humann  has  lately  discovered  a  long 
cuneiform  inscription  among  the  Hittite  sculptures  of 
Sinjirli  in  the  ancient  Komagene.  If  the  Hittite  texts 
are  ever  deciphered,  it  will  probably  be  through  the  help 
of  the  cuneiform  script. 

A  beginning  has  already  been  made.    Within  a  month 


THE  INSCRIPTIONS.  127 

after  my  Paper  had  been  read  before  the  Society  of 
Biblical  Archaeology,  which  announced  the  discovery 
of  a  Hittite  empire  and  the  connection  of  the  curious 
art  of  Asia  Minor  with  that  of  Carchemish,  I  had  fallen 
across  a  bilingual  inscription  in  Hittite  and  cuneiform 
characters.  This  was  on  the  silver  boss  of  King  Tarkon- 
demos,  the  only  key  yet  found  to  the  interpretation 
of  the  Hittite  texts.  ' 


THE    BILINGUAL   BOSS   OF   TARKONDEMOS. 

The  story  of  the  boss  is  a  strange  one.  It  was  pur- 
chased many  years  ago  at  Smyrna  by  M.  Alexander 
Jovanoff,  a  well-known  numismatist  of  Constantinople, 
who  showed  it  to  the  Oriental  scholar  Dr.  A.  D.  Mordt- 
mann.  Dr.  Mordtmann  made  a  copy  of  it,  and  found  it 
to  be  a  round  silver  plate,  probably  the  head  of  a  dagger 
or  dirk,  round  the  rim  of  which  ran  a  cuneiform  inscrip- 
tion. Within,  occupying  the  central  field,  was  the  figure 
of  a  warrior  in  a  new  and  unknown  style  of  art.  He 
stood  erect,  holding  a  spear  in  the  right  hand,  and 
pressing  the  left  against  his  breast.  He  was  clothed 
in  a  tunic,  over  which  a  fringed  cloak  was  thrown  ;  a 


128  THE  HITTITES. 

close-fitting  cap  was  on  the  head,  and  boots  with  up- 
turned ends  on  the  feet,  the  upper  part  of  the  legs  being 
bare,  while  a  dirk  was  fastened  in  the  belt.  On  either 
side  of  the  figure  was  a  series  of  c  symbols/  the  series 
on  each  side  being  the  same,  except  that  on  the  right 
side  the  upper  'symbols'  were  smaller,  and  the  lower 
*  symbols '  larger  than  the  corresponding  ones  on  the 
left  side. 

In  an  article  published  some  years  later  on  the  cunei- 
form inscriptions  of  Van,  Dr.  Mordtmann  referred  to  the 
boss,  and  it  was  his  description  of  the  figure  in  the 
centre  of  it  which  arrested  my  attention.  I  saw  at  once 
that  the  figure  must  be  in  the  style  of  art  I  had  just 
determined  to  be  Hittite,  and  I  guessed  that  the  '  sym- 
bols '  which  accompanied  it  would  turn  out  to  be  Hittite 
hieroglyphs.  Dr.  Mordtmann  stated  that  he  had  given 
a  copy  of  the  boss  in  1862  in  the  'Numismatic  Journal 
which  appears  in  Hanover.'  After  a  long  and  trouble- 
some search  I  found  that  the  publication  meant  by  him 
was  not  a  Journal  at  all,  and  had  appeared  at  Leipzig, 
not  at  Hanover,  in  1863,  not  in  1862.  The  copy  of  the 
boss  contained  in  it  showed  that  I  was  right  in  believing 
.  Dr.  Mordtmann's  'symbols'  to  be  Hittite  characters. 

It  now  became  necessary  to  know  how  far  the  copy 
was  correct,  and  to  ascertain  whether  the  original  were 
still  in  existence.  A  reply  soon  came  from  the  British 
Museum.  The  boss  had  once  been  offered  to  the 
Museum  for  sale,  but  rejected,  as  nothing  like  it  had 
ever  been  seen  before,  and  it  was  therefore  suspected 
of  being  a  forgery.  Before  its  rejection,  however,  an 
electrotype  had  been  taken  of  it,  an  impression  of  which 
was  now  sent  to  me. 

Shortly  afterwards  came  another  communication  from 


THE  INSCRIPTIONS.  139 

M.  Francois  Lenormant,  one  of  the  most  learned  and 
brilliant  Oriental  scholars  of  the  present  century.  He 
had  seen  the  original  at  Constantinople  some  twenty 
years  previously,  and  had  there  made  a  cast  of  it,  which 
he  forwarded  to  me.  The  cast  and  the  electrotype 
agreed  exactly  together. 

There  could  accordingly  be  no  doubt  that  we  had 
before  us,  if  not  the  original  itself,  a  perfect  facsimile  of 
it.  The  importance  of  this  fact  soon  became  manifest, 
for  the  original  boss  disappeared  after  M.  JovanofFs 
death,  and  in  spite  of  all  enquiries  no  trace  of  it  can  be 
discovered.  It  may  be  recovered  hereafter  in  the  bazaars 
of  Constantinople  or  in  some  private  house  at  St.  Peters- 
burg ;  at  present  there  is  no  clue  whatever  to  its  actual 
possessor. 

The  reading  of  the  cuneiform  legend  offers  but  little 
difficulty.  It  gives  us  the  name  and  title  of  the  king 
whose  figure  is  engraved  within  it — '  Tarqu-dimme  king 
of  the  country  of  Erme.' 

The  name  Tarqu-dimme  is  evidently  the  same  as 
that  of  the  Cilicicm  prince  Tarkondemos  or  Tarkon- 
dimotos,  who  lived  in  the  time  of  our  Lord.  The  name 
is  also  met  with  in  other  parts  of  Asia  Minor  under 
the  forms  of  Tarkondas  and  Tarkondimatos ;  and 
we  may  consider  it  to  be  of  a  distinctively  Hittite 
type.  Where  the  district  was  over  which  Tarqu-dimme 
ruled  we  can  only  guess.  It  may  have  been  the  range 
of  mountains  called  Arima  by  the  classical  writers, 
which  lay  close  under  the  Hittite  monuments  of  the 
Bulgar  Dagh.  In  this  case  Tarkondemos  would  have 
been  a  Cilician  king. 

The  twice-repeated  Hittite  version  of  the  cuneiform 
legend  has  been  the  subject  of  much  discussion.  The 

I 


130  THE   H2TTITES. 

arrangement  of  the  characters,  due  more  to  the  necessity 
of  filling  up  the  vacant  space  on  the  boss  than  to  the 
requirements  of  their  natural  order,  allowed  more  than 
one  interpretation  of  them.  But  there  were  two  facts 
which  furnished  the  key  to  their  true  reading.  On 
the  one  hand,  the  inscription  is  divided  into  two  halves 
by  two  characters  whose  form  and  position  in  other 
Hittite  texts  show  them  to  signify  '  king5  and  'country'; 
on  the  other  hand,  the  first  two  characters  are  made, 
as  it  were,  to  issue  from  the  mouth  of  the  king,  and 
thus  to  express  his  name.  We  thus  obtain  the  reading : 
'Tarku-dimme  king  of  the  country  of  Er-me/  the 
syllables  tarku  and  me  being  denoted  by  the  head  of 
a  goat  and  the  numeral  'four,'  while  the  ideographs 
of  ( king '  and  *  country '  are  represented  by  the  royal 
tiara  worn  by  gods  and  monarchs  in  the  Hittite  sculp- 
tures, and  by  the  picture  of  a  mountainous  land.  In 
the  ideograph  of  'country'  Mordtmann  had  already 
seen  a  likeness  of  the  shafts  of  rock  which  rise  out  of 
the  Kappadokian  plateau. 

The  bilingual  boss  accordingly  furnishes  us  with  two 
important  ideographs,  and  the  phonetic  values  of  four 
other  characters.  Armed  with  these,  we  can  attack 
the  other  texts,  and  learn  something  about  them.  It 
becomes  clear  that  the  inscriptions  from  Carchemish 
now  in  the  British  Museum  are  the  monuments  of  a 
king  whose  name  ends  in  -me-Tarku,  and  who  records 
the  names  of  his  father  and  grandfather.  To  the  grand- 
father belonged  an  inscription  copied  by  Mr.  Boscawen 
among  the  ruins  of  Carchemish,  but  unfortunately 
never  brought  to  England,  and  probably  long  since 
destroyed. 

On  the  lion  of  Merash,  moreover,  a    king  similarly 


THE  INSCRIPTIONS.  131 

records  his  name  along  with  those  of  his  two  immediate 
ancestors.  The  same  king's  name  is  found  at  Hamath 
as  that  of  the  father  of  the  sovereign  mentioned  in 
the  other  inscriptions  that  come  from  there,  and  we 
may  perhaps  infer  that  the  monuments  of  Hamath 
are  the  memorials  of  a  Komagenian  monarch  who 
carried  his  victorious  arms  thus  far  to  the  south.  The 


THE    LION   OF   MERASH. 


time  will  doubtless  come  when  we  shall  be  able  to  read 
these  mysterious  characters  without  difficulty,  and  we 
shall  then  know  whether  or  not  our  inference  is  correct. 
Meanwhile  we  must  be  content  to  await  the  dis- 
covery of  another  bilingual  text.  The  legend  on  the 
boss  of  Tarkondemos  is  not  long  enough  to  carry  us 

I  1 


J32  THE  HITTITES. 

far  through  the  mazes  of  Hittite  decipherment  ;  before 
much  progress  can  be  made  it  must  be  supplemented 
by  another  inscription  of  the  same  kind.  But  the  fact 
that  one  bilingual  inscription  has  been  found  is  an 
earnest  that  other  bilingual  inscriptions  have  existed, 
and  may  yet  be  brought  to  light.  We  may  live  in 
confident  expectation  that  the  mute  stones  will  yet 
be  taught  to  speak,  and  that  we  shall  learn  how  the 
empire  of  the  Hittites  was  founded  and  preserved,  not 
from  the  annals  of  their  enemies,  but  from  their  own  lips. 

It  is  not  probable  that  the  Hittite  system  of  writing 
passed  away  without  leaving  its  influence  behind  it. 
As  the  culture  and  art  which  the  Hittites  carried  to 
the  barbarous  nations  of  Asia  Minor  became  implanted 
among  them  and  bore  abundant  fruit,  so  too  we  may 
believe  that  the  knowledge  of  the  Hittite  writing  did 
not  perish  utterly.  There  is  reason  to  think  that  the 
curious  syllabary  which  continued  to  be  used  in  Cyprus 
as  late  as  the  age  of  Alexander  the  Great  was  derived 
from  the  Hittite  hieroglyphs.  It  was  singularly  un- 
fitted to  express  the  sounds  of  the  Greek  language,  as  it 
was  required  to  do  in  Cyprus,  and  it  has  been  shown 
that  it  was  but  a  branch  of  a  syllabary  once  employed 
throughout  a  large  part  of  Asia  Minor,  the  very  country 
in  which  the  Hittites  engraved  their  own  written 
monuments.  It  seems  likely,  therefore,  that  the  Hittite 
characters  became  a  syllabary  in  which  each  character 
represented  a  separate  syllable,  and  survived  in  this  form 
to  a  late  age. 

It  is  also  possible  that  the  names  assigned  to  the 
letters  even  of  the  Phoenician  alphabet  were  influ- 
enced by  the  hieroglyphs  of  the  Hittites.  When 
the  Phoenicians  borrowed  the  letters  of  the  Egyptian 


THE  INSCRIPTIONS.  133 

alphabet  they  gave  them  names  beginning  in  their  own 
language  with  the  sound  represented  by  each  letter. 
A  was  called  alepJi  because  the  Phoenician  word  aleph 
'  an  ox  '  began  with  that  sound,  k  was  kaph  '  the  hand  ' 
because  kaph  in  Phoenician  began  with  k.  It  was  but 
an  early  application  of  the  same  principle  which  made 
our  forefathers  believe  that  the  child  would  learn  his 
alphabet  more  quickly  if  he  was  taught  that  *  A  was  an 
archer  who  shot  at  a  frog.' 

But  the  names  must  have  been  assigned  to  the  letters 
not  only  because  they  commenced  with  corresponding 
sounds,  but  also  because  of  their  fancied  resemblance 
to  the  objects  denoted  by  the  names.  Now  in  some 
instances  the  resemblance  is  by  no  means  clear.  The 
earliest  forms  of  the  letters  called  kaph  and  yod,  for 
example,  both  of  which  words  signify  a  'hand/  have 
little  likeness  to  the  human  hand.  If  we  turn  to  the 
Hittite  hieroglyphs,  however,  we  find  among  them  two 
representations  of  the  hand,  encased  in  the  long  Hittite 
glove,  which  are  almost  identical  with  the  Phoenician 
letters  in  shape.  It  is  difficult,  therefore,  to  resist  the  con- 
viction that  the  letters  kaph  and  yod  received  their  names 
from  Syrians  who  were  familiar  with  the  appearance  of  the 
Hittite  characters.  It  is  the  same  in  the  case  of  aleph. 
Here  too  the  old  Phoenician  letter  does  not  in  any  way 
resemble  an  ox,  but  it  bears  a  very  close  likeness  to  the 
head  of  a  bull,  which  occupies  a  prominent  place  in  the 
Hittite  texts.  Aleph  became  the  Greek  alpha  when  the 
Phoenician  alphabet  was  handed  on  to  the  Greeks,  and 
in  the  word  alphabet  has  become  part  of  our  own 
heritage.  Like  yod,  which  has  passed  through  the 
Greek  iota  into  the  English  jot,  it  is  thus  possible  that 
there  are  still  words  in  daily  use  among  ourselves  which 


134  THE  HITTITES. 

can  be  traced,  if  not  to  the  Hittite  language,  at  all 
events  to  the  Hittite  script. 

What  the  language  of  the  Hittites  was  we  have  yet 
to  learn.  But  the  proper  names  preserved  on  the 
Egyptian  and  Assyrian  monuments  show  that  it  did  not 
belong  to  the  Semitic  family  of  speech,  and  an  analysis 
of  the  Hittite  inscriptions  further  makes  it  evident  that 
it  made  large  use  of  suffixes.  But  we  must  be  on  our 
guard  against  supposing  that  the  language  was  uniform 
throughout  the  district  in  which  the  Hittite  population 
lived.  Different  tribes  doubtless  spoke  different  dialects, 
and  some  of  these  dialects  probably  differed  widely  from 
each  other.  But  they  all  belonged  to  the  same  general 
type  and  class  of  language,  and  may  therefore  be  collec- 
tively spoken  of  as  the  Hittite  language,  just  as  the 
various  dialects  of  England  are  collectively  termed 
English.  Indeed,  we  find  the  same  type  of  language 
extending  far  eastward  of  Kappadokia,  if  we  may  trust 
the  proper  names  recorded  in  the  Assyrian  inscriptions. 
Names  of  a  distinctively  Hittite  cast  are  met  with  as  far 
as  the  frontiers  of  the  ancient  kingdom  of  Ararat,  and  it 
may  be  that  the  language  of  Ararat  itself,  the  so-called 
Vannic,  may  belong  to  the  same  family  of  speech.  As 
the  cuneiform  inscriptions  in  which  this  language  is 
embodied  have  now  been  deciphered,  we  shall  be  able 
to  determine  the  question  as  soon  as  the  Hittite  texts 
also  render  up  their  secrets. 

In  the  south  of  Palestine  the  Hittites  must  have  lost 
their  old  language  and  have  adopted  that  of  their 
Semitic  neighbours  at  an  early  period.  In  Northern 
Syria  the  change  was  longer  in  coming  about.  The 
last  king  of  Carchemish  bears  a  non-Semitic  name,  but 
a  Semitic  god  was  worshipped  at  Aleppo,  and  Kadesh 


THE  INSCRIPTIONS.  135 

on  the  Orontes  remained  a  Semitic  sanctuary.  The 
Hittite  occupation  of  Hamath  seems  to  have  lasted  for 
a  short  time  only.  Its  king,  who  appears  on  the  Assyrian 
monuments  as  the  contemporary  of  Ahab,  has  the  Semitic 
name  of  Irkhulena,  'the  moon-god  belongs  to  us' ;  and 
his  successors  were  equally  of  Semitic  origin.  It  is 
more  doubtful  whether  Tou  or  Toi,  whose  son  came 
to  David  with  an  offer  of  alliance,  bears  a  name  which 
can  be  explained  from  the  Semitic  lexicon. 

In  the  fastnesses  of  the  Taurus,  however,  the  Hittite 
dialects  were  slow  in  dying.  In  the  days  of  St.  Paul 
the  people  of  Lystra  still  spoke  'the  speech  of  Ly- 
kaonia/  although  the  official  language  of  Kappadokia 
had  long  since  become  Aramaic.  But  the  Aramaic 
was  itself  supplanted  by  Greek,  and  before  the  downfall 
of  the  Roman  empire  Greek  was  the  common  language 
of  all  Asia  Minor.  In  its  turn  Greek  has  been  superseded 
in  these  modern  times  by  Turkish. 

Languages,  however,  may  change  and  perish,  but  the 
races  that  have  spoken  them  remain.  The  character- 
istics of  race,  once  acquired,  are  slow  to  alter.  Though 
the  last  echoes  of  Hittite  speech  have  died  away  centuries 
ago,  the  Hittite  race  still  inhabits  the  region  from  which 
in  ancient  days  it  poured  down  upon  the  cities  of  the 
south.  We  may  still  see  in  it  all  the  lineaments  of  the 
warriors  of  Karabel  or  the  sculptured  princes  of  Car- 
chemish ;  even  the  snow-shoe  and  fingerless  glove  are 
still  worn  on  the  cold  uplands  of  Kappadokia. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

HITTITE   TRADE   AND   INDUSTRY. 

THE  Hittites  shone  as  much  in  the  arts  of  peace  as 
in  the  arts  of  war.  The  very  fact  that  they  invented 
a  system  of  writing  speaks  highly  for  their  intellectual 
capacities.  It  has  been  granted  to  but  few  among  the 
races  of  mankind  to  devise  means  of  communicating 
their  thoughts  otherwise  than  by  words  ;  most  of  the 
nations  of  the  world  have  been  content  to  borrow  from 
others  not  only  the  written  characters  they  use  but  even 
the  conception  of  writing  itself. 

We  know  from  the  ruins  of  Boghaz  Keui  and  Eyuk 
that  the  Hittites  were  no  mean  architects.  They  un- 
derstood thoroughly  the  art  of  fortification  ;  the  great 
moat  outside  the  walls  of  Boghaz  Keui,  with  its  sides 
of  slippery  stone,  is  a  masterpiece  in  this  respect,  like 
the  fortified  citadels  within  the  city,  to  which  the  besieged 
could  retire  when  the  outer  wall  was  captured.  The 
well-cut  blocks  and  sculptured  slabs  of  which  their 
palaces  were  built  prove  how  well  they  knew  the  art 
of  quarrying  and  fashioning  stone.  The  mines  of  the 
Bulgar  Dagh  are  an  equally  clear  indication  of  their 
skill  in  mining  and  metallurgic  work. 

The  metallurgic  fame  of  the  Khalybes,  who  bordered 
on  the  Hittite  territory,  and  may  have  belonged  to  the 
same  race,  was  spread  through  the  Greek  world.  They 


HITTITE    TRADE  AND  INDUSTRY.  137 

had  the  reputation  of  first  discovering  how  to  harden 
iron  into  steel.  It  was  from  them,  at  all  events,  that 
the  Greeks  acquired  the  art. 

Silver  and  copper  appear,  from  the  evidence  of  the 
Egyptian  and  Assyrian  monuments,  to  have  been  the 
metals  most  in  request,  though  gold  and  iron  also  figure 
among  the  objects  which  the  Hittites  offered  in  tribute. 
The  gold  and  copper  were  moulded  into  cups  and 
images  of  animals,  and  the  copper  was  changed  into 
bronze  by  being  mixed  with  tin.  From  whence  the  tin 
was  procured  we  have  yet  to  learn. 

Silver  and  iron  were  alike  used  as  a  medium  of 
exchange.  The  Assyrian  king  received  from  Carchemish 
250  talents  of  iron ;  and  the  excavations  of  Dr.  Schliemann 
among  the  ruins  of  Troy  have  afforded  evidence  that 
silver  also  was  employed  by  the  Hittites  in  place  of 
money,  and  that  its  use  for  this  purpose  was  com- 
municated by  them  to  the  most  distant  nations  of 
Western  Asia  Minor. 

In  the  so-called  e treasure  of  Priam,'  disinterred  among 
the  calcined  ruins  of  Hissarlik  or  Troy,  are  six  blade- 
like  ingots  of  silver,  about  seven  or  eight  inches  in 
length  and  two  in  breadth.  Mr.  Barclay  Head  has 
pointed  out  that  each  of  these  ingots  weighs  the  third 
part  of  a  Babylonian  maneh  or  mina,  and  further  that 
this  particular  maneh  of  8656  grains  Troy,  was  once 
employed  throughout  Asia  Minor  for  weighing  bullion 
silver.  It  differed  from  the  standard  of  weight  and 
value  used  in  Phoenicia,  Assyria,  and  Asia  Minor  itself 
in  the  later  Greek  age.  But  it  corresponded  with  '  the 
maneh  of  Carchemish '  mentioned  in  the  Assyrian  con- 
tract tablets,  which  continued  to  hold  its  own  even  after 
the  conquest  of  Carchemish  by  Sargon.  The  maneh  of 


138  THE  HITTITES: 

Carchemish  had,  it  is  true,  been  originally  derived  from 
Babylonia,  like  most  of  the  elements  of  Hittite  culture, 
but  it  had  made  itself  so  thoroughly  at  home  in  the 
Hittite  capital  as  to  be  called  after  its  name.  Nothing 
can  show  more  clearly  than  this  the  leading  position 
held  by  the  Hittites  in  general,  and  the  city  of  Carche- 
mish in  particular,  in  regard  to  commerce  and  industry. 

Carchemish  was,  in  fact,  the  centre  of  the  overland 
trade  in  Western  Asia.  It  commanded  the  high-road 
which  brought  the  products  of  Phoenicia  and  the  West 
to  the  civilised  populations  of  Assyria  and  Babylon.  It 
was  this  which  made  its  possession  so  greatly  coveted 
by  the  Assyrian  kings.  Its  capture  assured  to  Sargon 
the  command  of  the  Mediterranean  coast,  and  the  trans- 
ference to  Assyrian  hands  of  the  commerce  and  wealth 
which  had  flowed  in  to  the  merchant-princes  of  the 
Hittite  city. 

The  sumptuous  furniture  in  which  they  indulged  is 
mentioned  by  Assur-natsir-pal.  Like  the  luxurious 
monarchs  of  Israel,  they  reclined  on  couches  inlaid  with 
ivory,  of  which  it  is  possible  that  they  were  the  inven- 
tors. At  all  events,  elephants  were  still  hunted  by 
Tiglath-pileser  I.,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Carchemish, 
as  they  had  been  by  Thothmes  III.  four  centuries  earlier, 
and  elephants'  tusks  were  among  the  tribute  paid  by 
the  Hittites  to  the  Assyrian  kings.  It  may  be  that  the 
extinction  of  the  elephant  in  this  part  of  Asia  was  due 
to  Hittite  huntsmen. 

The  ivory  couches  of  Carchemish,  however,  were  not 
employed  at  meals,  as  they  would  have  been  in  Assyria 
or  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans  of  a  later  day.  Like 
the  Egyptians,  the  Hittites  sat  when  eating,  and  their 
chairs  were  provided  with  backs  as  well  as  with  curiously- 


HITTITE  .TRADE   AND  INDUSTRY.  139 

formed  footstools.  The  food  was  placed  on  low  cross- 
legged  tables,  which  resembled  a  camp-stool  in  shape. 

At  times,  as  we  may  gather  from  a  bas-relief  at 
Merash,  they  entertained  themselves  at  a  banquet  with 
the  sounds  of  music.  Several  different  kinds  of  musical 
instruments  are  represented  on  the  monuments,  among 
which  we  may  recognise  a  lyre,  a  trumpet,  and  a  sort 
of  guitar.  It  is  evident  that  they  were  fond  of  music, 
;->nd  had  cultivated  the  art,  as  befitted  a  people  to  whom 
wealth  had  given  leisure.  A  curious  indication  of  the 
same  leisured  ease  is  to  be  found  in  a  sculpture  at  Eyuk, 
where  an  attendant  is  depicted  carrying  a  monkey  on 
his  shoulders.  Those  only  who  enjoyed  the  quiet  of  a 
peaceful  and  wealthy  life  would  have  gratified  the  taste 
for  animals  which  the  monuments  reveal,  by  importing 
an  animal  like  the  monkey  from  the  distant  south.  The 
Hittites  were  doubtless  a  warlike  people  when  they  first 
swooped  down  upon  the  plains  of  Syria,  but  they  soon 
began  to  cultivate  the  arts  of  peace  and  to  become  one 
of  the  great  mercantile  peoples  of  the  ancient  world. 

We  learn  from  the  Books  of  Kings  that  horses  and 
chariots  were  exported  from  Egypt  for  the  Hittite 
princes,  the  Israelites  serving  as  intermediaries  in  the 
trade.  But  they  must  also  have  obtained  horses  from 
the  north,  and  perhaps  have  bred  them  for  themselves. 
The  prophet  Ezekiel  tells  us'(xxvii.  14)  that  'they  of 
Togarmah  traded  '  in  the  fairs  of  Tyre  '  with  horses  and 
horsemen  and  mules,'  and  Togarmah  has  been  identified 
with  the  Tul-Garimmi  of  the  Assyrian  inscriptions, 
which  was  situated  in  Komagene.  In  the  wars  between 
Egypt  and  Kadesh  a  portion  of  the  Hittite  army  fought 
in  chariots,  each  drawn  by  two  horses,  and  holding 
sometimes  two,  sometimes  three  men.  The  chariots 


140  THE  HITTITES. 

were  of  light  make,  and  rested  on  two  wheels,  usually 
furnished  with  six  spokes. 

The  army  was  well-disciplined  and  well-arranged.  Its 
nucleus  was  formed  of  native-born  Hittites,  who  occupied 
the  centre  and  the  posts  of  danger.  Around  them  were 
ranged  their  allies  and  mercenaries,  under  the  command 
of  special  generals.  The  native  infantry  and  cavalry 
also  obeyed  separate  captains,  but  the  whole  host  was 
led  by  a  single  commander-in-chief. 

We  have  yet  to  be  made  acquainted  with  the  details 
of  their  domestic  architecture.  The  ground-plan  of  their 
palaces  has  been  given  us  at  Boghaz  Keui  and  Eyuk,  at 
Carchemish  and  Sinjirli,  and  we  know  that  they  were  built 
round  a  central  court  of  quadrangular  form.  We  know 
too  that  the  entrance  to  the  palace  was,  like  that  to  an 
Egyptian  temple,  flanked  by  massive  blocks  of  stone  on 
either  side,  and  approached  by  an  avenue  of  sculptured 
slabs.  We  have  learned,  moreover,  that  the  palace  was 
erected  on  raised  terraces  or  mounds  ;  but  beyond  this 
we  know  little  except  that  use  was  made  of  a  pillar 
without  a  base,  which  had  been  originally  derived  from 
Babylonia,  the  primitive  home  of  columnar  architecture. 

About  the  Hittite  dress  we  have  fuller  information. 
Apart  from  the  snow-shoes  or  mocassins  which  have 
helped  to  identify  their  monumental  remains,  we  have 
found  the  Hittites  wearing  on  their  heads  two  kinds  of 
covering,  one  a  close-fitting  skull-cap,  the  other  a  lofty 
tiara,  generally  pointed,  but  sometimes  rounded  at  the 
top  or  ornamented,  as  at  Ibreez,  with  horn-like  ribbons. 
The  pointed  tiara  was  adorned  with  perpendicular  lines 
of  embroidery.  At  Boghaz  Keui  the  goddesses  have 
what  has  been  termed  the  mural  crown,  resembling  as  it 
does  the  fortified  wall  of  a  town. 


HITTITE   TRADE  AND  INDUSTRY.  14] 

The  robes  of  the  women  descended  to  the  feet.  This 
was  also  the  case  with  the  long  sleeved  garment  of  the 
priests,  but  other  men  wore  a  tunic  which  left  the  knees 
bare,  and  was  fastened  round  the  waist  by  a  girdle.  Over 
this  was  thrown  a  cloak,  which  in  walking  left  one  leg 
exposed.  In  the  girdle  was  stuck  a  short  dirk  ;  the 
other  arms  carried  being  a  spear  and  a  bow,  which  was 
slung  behind  the  back.  The  double-headed  battle-axe 
was  also  a  distinctively  Hittite  weapon,  and  was  carried 
by  them  to  the  coast  of  the  ^Egean,  where  in  the  Greek 
age  it  became  the  symbol  of  the  Karian  Zeus,  and  of  the 
island  of  Tenedos.  All  these  weapons  were  of  bronze, 
or  perhaps  of  iron  ;  but  there  are  indications  that  the 
Hittite  tribes  had  once  contented  themselves  with  tools 
and  weapons  of  stone.  Near  the  site  of  Arpad  Mr. 
Boscawen  purchased  a  large  and  beautiful  axe-head 
of  highly  polished  green-stone,  which  could,  however, 
never  have  been  intended  for  actual  use.  It  was,  in  fact, 
a  sacrificial  weapon,  surviving  in  the  service  of  the  gods 
from  the  days  when  the  working  of  metal  was  not  yet 
known.  Like  other  survivals  in  religious  worship,  it  bore 
witness  to  a  social  condition  that  had  long  since  passed 
away.  A  small  axe-head,  also  of  polished  green-stone, 
was  obtained  by  myself  from  the  neighbourhood  of 
Ephesos,  and  bears  a  remarkable  resemblance  in  form 
to  the  axe-head  of  Arpad.  The  importance  of  this  fact 
becomes  manifest  when  we  compare  the  numerous  other 
weapons  or  implements  of  polished  stone  found  in 
Western  Asia  Minor,  which  exhibit  quite  a  different  shape. 
It  permits  the  conclusion  that  both  Arpad  and  Ephesos 
were  seats  of  Hittite  influence,  and  that  in  both  thesame 
form  of  stone  implement — a  survival  from  an  earlier  age 
of  stone — was  dedicated  to  the  service  of  the  gods. 


T42  THE  HITTITES. 

The  dresses  of  cloth  and  linen  with  which  the  Hittites 
clothed  themselves  were  dyed  with  various  colours,  and 
were  ornamented  with  fringes  and  rich  designs.  That  of 
the  priest  at  Ibreez  is  especially  worthy  of  study.  Among 
the  patterns  with  which  it  is  adorned  are  the  same  square 
ornament  as  is  met  with  on  the  tomb  of  the  Phrygian 
king  Midas,  and  the  curious  symbol  usually  known  as 
the  '  swastika/  which  has  become  so  famous  since  the 
excavations  of  General  di  Cesnola  in  Cyprus,  and  of  Dr. 
Schliemann  at  Troy.  The  symbol  recurs  times  without 
number  on  the  pre-historic  pottery  of  Cyprus  and  the 
Trojan  plain  ;  but  no  trace  of  it  has  ever  yet  been  found 
in  Egypt,  in  Assyria,  or  in  Babylonia.  Alone  among 
the  remains  of  the  civilised  nations  of  the  ancient  East 
the  rock-sculpture  of  Ibreez  displays  it  on  the  robe  of 
a  Lykaonian  priest.  Was  it  an  invention  of  the  Hittite 
people,  communicated  by  them  to  the  rude  tribes  of 
Asia  Minor,  along  with  the  other  elements  of  a  cultured 
life,  or  was  it  of  barbarous  origin,  adopted  by  the  Hittites 
from  the  earlier  population  of  the  West  ? 

Before  we  can  answer  this  question  we  must  know  far 
more  than  we  do  at  present  about  that  long-forgotten 
but  wonderful  race,  whose  restoration  to  history  has  been 
one  of  the  most  curious  discoveries  of  the  present  age. 
When  the  sites  of  the  old  Hittite  cities  have  been 
thoroughly  explored,  when  the  monuments  they  left 
behind  them  have  been  disinterred,  and  their  inscrip- 
tions have  been  deciphered  and  read,  we  shall  doubtless 
learn  the  answers  to  this  and  many  other  questions  that 
are  now  pressing  for  solution.  Meanwhile  we  must  be 
content  with  what  has  already  been  gained.  Light 
has  been  cast  upon  a  dark  page  in  the  history  of 
Western  Asia,  and  therewith  upon  the  sacred  record  of 


HITTITE    TRADE   AND   INDUSTRY.  143 

the  Old  Testament,  and  a  people  has  advanced  into  the 
forefront  of  modern  knowledge  who  exercised  a  deep 
influence  upon  the  fortunes  of  Israel,  though  hitherto 
they  had  been  to  us  little  more  than  a  name.  At  the 
very  moment  when  every  word  of  Scripture  is  being 
minutely  scrutinised,  now  by  friends,  now  by  foes,  we 
have  learnt  that  the  statement  once  supposed  to  impugn 
the  authority  of  the  sacred  narrative  is  the  best  witness 
to  its  truth.  The  friends  of  Abraham,  the  allies  of  David, 
the  mother  of  Solomon,  all  belonged  to  a  race  which  left 
an  indelible  mark  on  the  history  of  the  world,  though  it 
has  been  reserved  in  God's  wisdom  for  our  own  genera- 
tion to  discover  and  trace  it  out. 


INDEX. 


Adah,  Esau's  Hittite  wife,  13. 

Aleppo,  Hittite  inscription  at,  62. 

Amanus,  cedar  forests  of,  47. 

Amazons,  the,  legend  of,  78. 

Amenophis  III.,  wars  of,  21;  marriage 
of,  21. 

Amenophis  IV.,  a  heretic  king, 
founds  a  new  capital,  22  ;  dis- 
covery of  tablets  of,  22. 

Amorite  captives  taken  by  Shishak, 
16. 

Amorites  interlocked  with  Hittites,  14  ; 
possessions  of,  14  ;  physical  descrip- 
tion of,  15  ;  descendants  of,  16  ; 
history  of,  17. 

Anakim,  height  of,  16. 

Antarata,  the  Hittite  goddess,  105. 

Ararat,  king  of,  suicide  of,  51. 

Architecture,  Hittite,  136. 

Argistis  L,  campaign  of,  52. 

Arisu  the  Phoenician,  a  usurper,  39. 

Ark  of  the  prophet  Noah,  the,  107. 

Army,  Hittite,  140 

Arpad,  green-stone  axe  head  from,  141. 

Art,  Hittite,  114  ;  Babylonian  influ- 
ence on,  116  ;  Assyrian,  117. 

'Artemis,  worship  of,  79. 

Ashtoreth,  myth  of,  no. 

Assur-natsir-pal,  conquests  of,  45  ; 
exacts  tribute  from  Carchemish,  46  ; 
attacks  Azaz,  47. 

Assyria,  testimony  of  monuments  of,  to 
Hittites,  40  ;  decay  of,  43  ;  rise  of, 
45,  50 ;  influence  of,  on  Hittite  art, 
117. 

Atargatis,  the  goddess,  105. 

Athar-'Ati,  the  goddess  of  Carchemish, 
105. 

Attys,  the  god,  in. 

Axe-heads,  green-stone,  141. 

Baal  of  Tarsos,  in. 

Babylonian  influence  on  Ilittite  art, 

116. 
Bashemath,  Esau's  Hittite  wife,  13. 


Beeri  the  Hittite,  daughter  of,  13. 

Biainas  or  Van,  inscriptions  in,  51. 

Boghaz  Keui,  inscription  at,  65  ;  Hit- 
tite remains  at,  87  ;  position  of, 
87  ;  palace  at,  89  ;  wall-sculptures 
at,  89  ;  a  sanctuary,  93  ;  texts  at, 

93- 

Boots,  Hittite,  80,  89. 

Bor,  Hittite  text  at,  94. 

Boscawen,  Mr.,  his  purchase  of  green- 
stone axe-head,  141. 

Boss  of  Tarkondemos,  127  ;  bilingual 
inscription  on,  129. 

Bronze  figures,  Hittite,  117. 

Buckle,  origin  of  Greek,  120. 

Bulgar  Dagh,  silver  mines  at,  94. 

Burckhardt,  his  discovery  at  Hainan^ 
56. 

Canaan,  sons  of,  13. 

Carchemish,  strength  of,  43  ;  pays 
tribute  to  Assur-natsir-pal,  46; 
man  eh  of,  46  ;  fall  of,  50  ;  questions 
as  to  site  of,  97  ;  identification  of, 
98  ;  visited  by  Mr.  George  Smith, 

98  ;  the  site  bought,  99  ;  remains  of, 

99  ;  history  of,  99  ;   battle  of,  100  ; 
a    holy    city,    100 ;     situation    of, 

100  ;  the  deities  of,  104  ;   trade  of, 
138. 

Cedar,  forests  of  Amanus,  47. 

Chariots,   Hittite,  139. 

Cheroki  Indian,  syllabary  of,  124. 

Cities  of  Refuge,  Hittite,  113  ;  Hebrew, 
114. 

Cloth,  Hittite,  142. 

Conder,  Major,  on  the  Ark  of  the 
prophet  Noah,  107. 

Country,  Hittite  hieroglyph  repre- 
senting, 8 1. 

Cromlechs  of  Libyans,  17. 

Cuneiform  tablets,  from  Kaisariyeh, 
126. 

Cylinders,  Hittite,  118. 

Cyprus,  syllabary  used  in,  132. 


146 


INDEX. 


Dados  at  Eyuk,  86  ;  at  Boghaz  Keui, 
89  ;  in  Taurus,  94. 

Damascus,  rise  of,  44. 

David,  wars  of,  with  Syria,  44. 

Davis,  Rev.  E.  J.,  on  Ibreez  sculp- 
tures, 61. 

Debir  or  Dapur,  an  Amorite  town,  126. 

Deities,  Hittite,  104. 

Deluge,  the,  fables  concerning,  106. 

Derketo,  the  myth  of,  105,  108,  no. 

Dove,  the  symbol  of,  no. 

Dress,  Hittite,  140,  142. 

Eagle,  double-headed,  at  Eyuk,  85. 

Egypt,  testimony  of  monuments  to 
Hittites  and  Amorites,  14  ;  annals 
of,  19 ;  wars  with  Hittites,  23 ; 
confederacy  against,  39  ;  civil  wars 
in,  39  ;  invasions  of,  39. 

Elon  the  Hittite,  daughter  of,  13. 

Ephesos,  worship  of  the  Mother-god- 
dess at,  113  ;  green-stone  axe-head 
from,  141. 

Ephron  the  Hittite,  13. 

Esau's  Hittite  wives,  13. 

Exodus,  the  time  of,  25,  38. 

Eyuk,  Hittite  remains  at,  85  ;  palace, 
85  ;  avenue  of  lions,  85  ;  sphinx  at, 
85  ;  double-headed  eagle  at,  85  ; 
palace  gate  at,  86  ;  dado  at,  86  ; 
sculptures  at,  86  ;  date  of,  87  ; 
height  of  plateau,  87  ;  climate  of,  87. 

Furniture,  Hittite,  138. 

Galli  or  eunuchs  at  Mabog,  106. 
Gar-emeris,  a  district,  14. 
Gargamis,  see  Carchemish. 
Gaza,  garrisoned  by  Egyptians,  38. 
Gems,  Hittite,  118. 
Ghiaur-kalessi,  sculpture  at,  56. 
Ghurun,  Hittite  inscriptions  at,  94. 
Gladstone,     Mr.,     on     Keteians    of 

Homer,  120. 
Glove,  Hittite,  81. 
Gods,  Hittite,  35,  104. 
Great  Mother,  the,  worship  of,  108. 

Hadad,  worship  of,  109. 
Hadad-ezer,  his  war  with  David,  44. 
Hamah,  discovery  of  Hittite  remains 

in,  56. 
Hamath,  once  a  Hittite  city,  44  ;  last 

ruler  of,  45. 
Hamathite  inscriptions  really  Hittite, 

60. 


Hebron,  inhabitants  of,  14;  a  Hebrew 
city  of  refuge,  114. 

Henderson,  Mr.,  buys  site  of  Car- 
chemish, 99. 

Herodotos  on  Karabel  sculptures,  54 ; 
on  Syrians,  82. 

Heth,  son  of  Canaan,  13. 

Hittites,  false  criticisms  about,  n  ; 
Scripture  references  to,  12  ;  North- 
ern, 12  ;  Southern,  13  ;  testimony 
of  Egyptian  monuments,  14  ;  inter- 
locked with  Amorites,  14  ;  physical 
appearance  of,  15  ;  descendants  of, 
15  ;  history  of,  17  ;  of  Judaea,  19  ; 
called  Kheta  by  Egyptians,  19 ; 
Great  and  Little,  20  ;  pay  tribute  to 
Thothmes  III.,  20 ;  worship  of 
solar  disk,  21  ;  power  of,  23  ;  treaty 
with  Ramses  I. ,  23  ;  war  with  Seti 
1.,  24;  with  Ramses  II.,  24;  at 
Kadesh,  26  ;  make  treaty  with  him, 
29  ;  catalogue  of  gods,  35  ;  supre- 
macy of,  37;  peaceful  relations  with 
Meneptah,  38  ;  invade  Egypt,  39  ; 
their  empire  broken  up,  40  ;  decay 
of,  40  ;  Assyrian  references  to,  40  ; 
conquered  by  Tiglath-pileser  I.,  42  ; 
pay  tribute  to  Assur-natsir-pal,  46  ; 
confederacy  against  Shalmaneser  II., 
47  ;  power  of,  broken,  48  ;  change 
of  meaning  of  name,  49  ;  doom  of 
empire  of,  50 ;  campaign  against 
Meiiuas,  51  ;  against  Argistis  I.,  52  ; 
dominions  of,  52  ;  sculptures  of,  at 
Karabel,  54  ;  remains  of,  at 
Hamah,  56  ;  at  Ibreez,  61 ;  at  Alep- 
po, 62  ;  at  Sipylos,  69  ;  position  of 
monuments  of,  73  ;  peculiarities  of, 
74  ;  civilising  influence  of,  75  ;  cha- 
racter of  empire  of,  77  ;  dress  of, 
80  ;  boots  of,  80  ;  gloves  of,  81  ; 
etymology  of,  81  ;  remains  of,  at 
Eyuk,  85  ;  at  Boghaz  Keui,  87  ; 
text  at,  93  ;  at  Merash,  94 ;  silver 
mines,  95 ;  extent  of  their  su- 
premacy, 96  ;  ignorance  of  history 
of  Southern,  97  ;  Syrian  conquest 
of,  100  ;  appearance  of,  101  ;  mix- 
ture of,  with  Semites,  102  ;  religion 
of,  104  ;  description  of  a  temple  of, 
104  ;  the  gods  of,  104  ;  holy  cities 
of,  113  ;  cities  of  refuge,  113  ;  art 
of,  114  ;  sculpture  of,  115  ;  dis- 
covery of  bronze  figures  of,  117  ; 
gems  of,  118  ;  extent  of  influence 
of,  1 20  ;  reasons  for  our  interest  in, 


INDEX. 


121  ;  inscriptions  of,  122  ;  a  literary 
people,  125  ;  libraries  of,  126  ;  in- 
fluence of,  on  Phoenician  letters, 
132  ;  language  of,  134  ;  architecture 
of,  136  ;  metallurgy  of,  136  ;  their 
means  of  exchange,  137  ;  trade 
of,  138  ;  furniture  of,  138  ;  music 
of,  139 ;  horses  and  chariots  of, 
139  ;  army  of,  140  ;  dress  of,  140, 
142  ;  weapons  of,  141  ;  cloth  and 
linen  of,  142  ;  their  symbol  '  swas- 
tika,' 142  ;  knowledge  of,  confirms 
the  truth  of  Scripture,  143. 

Holy  cities,  Hittite,  113. 

Horses,  Hittite,  139. 

Humann,  Dr.,  his  discovery  of  a 
cuneiform  inscription,  126. 

Ibreez,  sculptures  at,  61. 

Inscriptions,  Hittite,  purpose  of,  123  ; 
characteristics  of,  123 ;  originality 
o^  124  ;  use  of,  124  ;  writing  mate- 
rial, 125  ;  at  Tel  el-Amarna,  126  ; 
cuneiform  and  hieroglyphic,  126 ; 
from  Kaisariyeh,  126 ;  from  Sinjirli, 
126  ;  on  boss  of  Tarkondemos,  127. 

Istar,  the  goddess,  109. 

Jebusites,  origin  of,  14. 

Jerablus,  true  site  of  Carchemish,  98. 

Jerusalem,  founders  of,  14. 

Jessup,  Mr.,  his  discovery  at  Hamah, 

Johnson,  Mr.,  his  disco  very  at  Hamah, 

57- 
Joshua,   his  entrance  into   Palestine, 

25- 
Jovanoff,  M.  Alexander,  his  purchase 

of  a  boss,  127. 
Judith,  Esau's  Hittite  wife,  13. 

Kabyles,  descendants  of  Libyans,  16. 
Kadesh,  people  of,  14  ;  taken  by  Seti 

I. ,24;  bravery  of  Ramses  II.  before, 

25  ;  Hittite  occupation  of,  100. 
Kadesh-barnea,  an  Amorite  town,  14. 
Kaisariyeh,  tablets  from,  126. 
Kappadokia,  Hittite  descendants  in, 

102. 
Karabel,    Pass  of,   situation  of,  54  ; 

sculptures  of,   54  ;    description  of, 

66. 

Karkar,  Assyrian  victory  at,  48. 
Kaska,  submission  of,  42. 
Kayster,  fable  concerning,  78. 


I    Kedesh  in  Galilee,  a  Hebrew  city  of 

refuge,  114. 

Kes,  the  Syrian  goddess,  112. 
Kheta  or  Hittites,  see  Hittites. 
Kheta-sira,  his  treaty  with  Ramses  I., 

3°- 

Khu-n-Aten,  see  Amenophis  IV. 
Kili-anteru,  capture  of,  42. 
Kirjath-sepher     or     Book-town,     an 

Amorite  town,  126. 
Kirkesion,  site  of,  97. 
Komana,  the  goddess  of,  112. 
Kombabos,  legend  of,  no. 
Krcesos,  destroys  city  of  Pteria,  82. 
Kummukh  attacked  by  Tiglath-pile- 

ser  I.,  41. 
Kybeld  or   Kybebe",  her  image  and 

worship,  108 ;  Amazonian  priestesses 

of,  113. 

Language,  Hittite,  134. 

Latsa,  capture  of,  12. 

Lenormant,  M.  F.,  on  boss  of  Tar- 
kond£mos,  129. 

Libyan  confederacy  against  Egypt,  39. 

Libyans,  appearance  of,  15  ;  descend- 
ants of,  16  ;  remains  of,  17. 

Linen,  Hittite,  142. 

Lucian  on  temple  of  Mabog,  104. 

Luz,  identification  of,  12. 

Lydia,  overthrow  of,  by  Cyrus,  82. 

Lydian  mythology,  109. 

Ma,  the  goddess,  worship  of,  112. 

Mabog,  see  Membij,  temple  of,  104  ; 
the  holy  of  holies,  104  ;  the  gods  in, 
104  ;  the  priests  of,  106  ;  proces- 
sions at,  106  ;  pilgrims  at,  107  ; 
sacrifices  at,  107  ;  legends  concern- 
ing, 107. 

Malady  eh  attacked  by  Tiglath-pileser 
I,,  42. 

Maneh  of  Carchemish,  the,  46,  137. 

Maspero,  Prof.,  on  site  of  Carchemish, 
97- 

Melito,  on  the  goddess  Simi,  106. 

Membij,  supposed  site  of  Carchemish, 
97- 

Meneptah,  his  peaceful  relations  with 
Hittites,  38  ;  with  Phoenicia,  38. 

Menuas,  campaigns  of,  51 ;  makes  an 
inscription  at  Palu,  52. 

Merash,  Hittite  inscriptions  at,  94. 

Metallurgy,  Hittite,  117,  136. 

Monkeys  imported  by  Hittites,  139. 

Mopsos,  legend  concerning,  109. 


K   2 


148 


INDEX. 


Mordtmann,  Dr.,  on  boss  of  Tarkon- 

demos,  127. 
Music,  Hittite,  139. 
Mykenoe,  remains  found  at,  no ;  rings, 

119  ;  lions  at,  120. 
Mythology  of  the  Hittites,  35,  104. 

Naharina,  situation  of,  20  ;  Ameno- 
phis  III.  marries  daughter  of  king 
of,  21. 

Necho,  defeat  of,  at  Carchemish,  100. 

Niobe,  the  weeping,  69. 

Oven,  the,  spring,  107. 

Palu,  inscription  of  Menuas  at,  52. 

Patinians,  submit  to  Assur-natsir-pal, 
47  ;  overthrow  of,  47  ;  insurrection 
of,  49. 

Pentaur,  his  epic  on  Ramses  II.,  25. 

Perrot,  Professor,  on  Karabel  sculp- 
tures, 56  ;  on  inscription  at  Boghaz 
Keui,  65  ;  his  discovery  of  Hittite 
bronze  figures,  117. 

Pessinus,  worship  of  Ma  at,  113. 

Pethor  made  into  an  Assyrian  colony, 
48. 

Petrie,  Mr. ,  on  appearance  of  Amorites, 

15- 

Phoenician  alphabet,  Hittite  influence 

on,  132. 

Pisiris,  last  king  of  Carchemish,  50. 
Priam,  treasure  of,  137. 
Priests  of  Mabog,  description  of,  106. 

Qalb  Luzeh,  or  Luz,  12. 

Ramses  I.,  his  treaty  with  Hittites,  23. 

Ramses  II.,  his  wars  with  Hittites,  24  ; 
the  Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus,  25  ;  epic 
on  his  bravery  at  Kadesh,  25  ;  makes 
a  treaty  with  Hittites,  29  ;  marries 
daughter  of  Hittite  king,  37. 

Ramses  III.,  victories  of,  39. 

Religion  of  the  Hittites,  104. 

Renouard,  his  discovery  of  Karabel 
sculpture,  55. 

Rhea,  the  goddess,  108. 

Rimmon  or  Tammuz,  worship  of,  109. 

Rings  found  at  Mykenae,  119. 

Sadi-anteru,  submission  of,  42. 

Sandan,  the  god,  in. 

Sangara,     league     formed     by,     47 ; 


daughter  of,  given  to  Shalmaneser 
II.,  48. 

Saplel,  a  Hittite  king,  his  treaty  with 
Ramses  I.,  23. 

Sardes,  date  of  capture  of,  78. 

Sargon,  wars  of,  50. 

Schliemann,  Dr.,  discoveries  of,  at 
Mykense,  no,  119. 

Sculpture,  Hittite,  115. 

Seals,  Hittite,  118. 

Semiramis,  the  goddess,  no. 

Semitic  mixture  with  Hittites,  102. 

Sesostris,  memorials  of,  at  Karabel,  54. 

Seti  I.,  wars  of,  24. 

Shalmaneser  II.,  warlike  policy  of,  47  ; 
sacrifices  to  Hadad,  48,  50  ;  his  vic- 
tory at  Karkar,  48  ;  appoints  a  new 
king  of  Patinians,  49  ;  inscription 
of,  49. 

Shechem,  a  Hebrew  city  of  refuge,  114. 

Shishak,  Amorite  captives  of,  16, 

Sidon,  son  of  Canaan,  13. 

Silver,  Hittite  liking  for,  94  ;  treaty- 
tablets,  95. 

Simi,  the  goddess,  fable  of,  106. 

Sinjirli,  inscription  at,  126. 

Sipylos,  sculpture  at,  69. 

Sisythes,  the  hero  of  the  deluge,  107. 

Skene,  Mr.,  his  discovery  of  site  of 
Carchemish,  98. 

Smith,  Mr.  George,  his  visit  to  site  of 
Carchemish,  98. 

Solar  disk,  worship  of,  21. 

Sphinx  at  Eyuk,  85. 

Strabo  on  White  Syrians,  82. 

StratonikS,  myth  of,  no. 

Subhi  Pasha  at  Hamah,  58. 

Sun-god,  the,  109. 

Sutekh,  the  supreme  Hittite  god,  105, 

112. 

Swastika,  a  Hittite  symbol,  142. 
Syllabary  used  in  Cyprus,  132. 


Tahtim-hodshi,  explanation  of,  12. 

Tammuz,  worship  of,  109  ;  myth  of 
death  of,  109. 

Tannur,  the  spring,  107. 

Tar  or  Tarku,  the  god,  111. 

TarkondSmos,  silver  boss  of,  127 ; 
bilingual  inscription  on,  129. 

Tarqu-dimme,  name  of,  on  silver  boss, 
129. 

Tel  el-Amarna,  discovery  at,  22  ;  in- 
scriptions at,  126. 

Thothmes  I.,  wars  of,  20. 


INDEX. 


149 


Thothmes  III.,  receives  Hittite  tri- 
bute, 20  ;  conquests  of,  21. 

Thothmes  IV.,  campaign  of,  21. 

Tiglath-pileser  I.,  annals  of,  41  ;  at- 
tacks Kummukh,  42  ;  Malatiyeh, 
42  ;  his  hunting  feats,  43. 

Tiglath-pileser  III.,  50. 

Togarmah,  identification  of,  139. 

Toi,  his  embassy  to  David,  44. 

Tomkins,  Mr.,  his  identification  of 
Luz,  12  ;  on  Amorites,  16. 

Treasure  of  Priam,  137. 

Treaty  between  Ramses  II.  and 
Hittite  king,  translation  of,  29. 

Tyana,  Hittite  text  at,  94. 

Uriah,  origin  of,  13. 

Ur-maa  Noferu-Ra,  marriage  of,  37. 


Urrakhinas,  siege  of,  42. 
Uruma,  submission  of,  42. 

Van,  Lake,  51. 

Vei,  Negro  syllabary  of,  124. 

Ward,  Dr.  Hayes,  discovery  of,  59. 

Weapons,  Hittite,  141. 

Wilson,    Sir    Charles,    discovery     of 

Hittite   inscriptions  at  Merash   by, 

94  ;  on  Hittite  descendants  in  Kap- 

padokia,  102. 

Worship  of  the  Hittites,  104. 
Wright,  Dr.  Wm.,   his  discovery   of 

Hittite  remains  at  Hamah,  57. 
Writing  material,  Hittite,  125. 

Yahu  bihdi,  last  ruler  of  Hamath,  45. 


LIST   OF   SCRIPTURE   REFERENCES. 


GENESIS. 

n~    -  .           .     .    '      :  ~ 

yos/rti-i. 

x.  ^                          ,i^ 

i  JT/.WCS. 

3:     -  :     -  -                                -  2 

OT_  13              ...      14 
™«-     .             ...      I3 

roi.  34        ...    13 
mrL  2         ...     13 

n.  22  ir 

JUDGES. 

Lv;                                 »-» 

2  JTZ.YGS. 

¥i6      II 

•L8          .     .                20 

»".¥*. 

—  —  —  

.'.  --  -x 

XM.29     .    .    .    .    r4 
™_33     ....    16 

DEXJTEROXOUY. 
i.i%2o  .    .    .    .    M 

2  SAMUEL. 

TIB.  3,9,10.    .    .    44 
*-*&   44 

DL  15-22       .       .      .       rf 

xxrr.  6     .    .    .  x*.  BOX  i 

^"-3.45      ...     13 

XTTB.  14  .       ...    139 

ZECHARIAB. 

14  DAY  USE 

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RENEWALS  ONLY-— TEL.  NO.  642-3405 
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Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


INTER- L 

LGAM 


MAY2R 


1971 


LD21A-60m-3,'70 
(N5382slO)476-A-32 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


